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Lipid Rafts: A Personal Account

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Abstract

The lipid raft concept of membrane sub-compartmentalization was introduced in 1997 and originated from studies on epithelial cell surface polarity. It was the first time that membrane lipid specificity was incorporated into the mechanisms that generate cell architecture. From its epithelial origins, the raft concept was generalized to explain how cells manage to perform their full spectrum of membrane functions. The associative capability of saturated sphingolipids and phospholipids with cholesterol and their repulsion of polyunsaturated membrane lipids formed the basis of the raft concept. With the demonstration that isolated plasma membrane vesicles can separate into two phases by liquid–liquid demixing, this became the physicochemical principle underlying raft sub-compartmentalization. The compartmentalization achieved by clustering fluctuating raft assemblies in living cells could be called an abortive nonequilibrium phase separation. Moreover, recent data demonstrate that raft lipids and proteins form collective cooperatives with emerging properties that enrich their functional repertoire. Together these features provide a new perspective on cell membrane function.

The lipid raft concept has a lengthy history. I am still amazed myself how durable this idea has been, considering its humble beginnings. In this chapter I will summarize my personal perspective on the evolution of this principle of membrane organization.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Mathias Gerl for help with references and figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany

    Kai Simons

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  1. Kai Simons
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Correspondence to Kai Simons .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. PhysicoChimie Curie (UMR CNRS 168), Institut Curie, Paris, France

    Patricia Bassereau

  2. PhysicoChimie Curie (UMR CNRS 168), Institut Curie, Paris, France

    Pierre Sens

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Simons, K. (2018). Lipid Rafts: A Personal Account. In: Bassereau, P., Sens, P. (eds) Physics of Biological Membranes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00630-3_4

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