Page "Fatty acid metabolism" Paragraph 19

The neutral lipids stored in adipocytes ( and in steroid synthesizing cells of the adrenal cortex, ovary, and testes ) in the form of lipid droplets, with a core of sterol esters and triacylglycerols surrounded by a monolayer of phospholipids, are coated with perilipin, a protein that acts as a protective coating from the body ’ s natural lipases, such as hormone-sensitive lipase ,.

However, when hormones such as epinepherine or glucagon are secreted in response to low levels of glucose, this triggers an intracellular secondary messenger cascade that phosphorylates hormone-sensitive lipase to break triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids for use in metabolism, a process called lipolysis.