Cellular lipid metabolism is influenced by the coordination environment of copper.

Copper ions are vital to human health, and mis-trafficking of them can result in many diseases including Wilson's, Menkes', and Alzheimer's diseases. Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy can be used to observe changes in lipid phenotype in a noninvasive manner and is employed here to show that copper accumulation in hepatic cells results in rapid changes in lipid storage and lipid droplet density. The increase in lipid storage is dependent on the coordination environment of the copper to which the cells are exposed and changes in toxicity, lipid phenotype, and rate of copper accumulation upon treatment vary using different Cu species.