Authors: F HullinMatsuda T Kobayashi
Publish Date: 2007/09/17
Volume: 64, Issue: 19-20, Pages: 2492-
Abstract
Specialized lipid microdomains in the cell plasma membrane referred to as ‘lipid rafts’ are enriched in sphingolipids and cholesterol and have drawn considerable interest as platforms for the recruitment of signaling molecules Despite numerous biochemical and cellular studies debate persists on the size lifetime and even the existence of lipid rafts emphasizing the need for reliable lipid probes to study in situ membrane lipid organization In this review we summarize our recent data on living cells using two specific probes of raft components lysenin a sphingomyelin binding protein and the fluorescein ester of polyethyleneglycolcholesteryl ether that labels cholesterolrich domains Sphingomyelinrich domains that are spatially and functionally distinct from the GM1 gangliosiderich domains were found at the plasma membrane of Jurkat T cells In addition the dynamics of cholesterolrich domains could be monitored at the cell surface as well as inside the cells
Keywords: