Abstract
For the first-time explorer in biology, lipids are perceived as the building blocks of a barrier that living cells must have in order to maintain their internal milieu of organelles, macromolecules, and solutes in a dynamic steady state. Although this view is generally correct, emerging evidence indicates that many lipids fulfill important regulatory roles and participate actively in cellular signaling. Furthermore, studies based on natural and model membranes suggest that transient and long-lived associations between lipids in the plane of the membrane give rise to yet another dynamic feature of these building blocks: the creation of functional domains in the barrier without which cells may not be able to function appropriately. In this context, the asymmetry between the two leaflets of the plasma membrane (Bretscher, 1973) or the lateral segregation into functional domains on the same leaflet (Brown and London, 2000) suggest a high diversity among lipid constituents. The aim of this chapter is to emphasize that the molecular basis for segregation into rafts or related structures stems from the unique intramolecular asymmetry conferred upon the lipid molecule by its various constituents.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Anderson R. E., Maude M. B., Alvarez R. A., Acland G., and Aguirre G. D. (1999) A hypothesis to explain the reduced blood levels of docosahexaenoic acid in inherited retinal degenerations caused by mutations in genes encoding retina-specific proteins. Lipids 34, S235–237.
Anderson R. G. W. and Jacobson K. (2002) A role of lipid shells in targeting proteins to caveolae rafts and other lipid domains. Science 296, 1821–1825.
Balasubramanian K. and Schroit A. J. (2003) Aminophospholipid asymmetry; A matter of life and death. Ann. Rev. Physiol. 65, 701–734.
Barenholz Y. and Cevc G. (2000) Physical chemistry of biological surfaces, In, Baszkin A. and Norde W., eds., Marcel Dekker, New York, pp. 171–241.
Barker D. J. and Clark P. M. (1997) Fetal undernutrition and disease in later life. Rev. Reprod. 2, 105–112.
Bazan N. G. and Rodriguez de Turco E. B. (1994) Pharmacological manipulation of docosahexaenoic-phospholipid biosynthesis in photoreceptor cells: implications in retinal degeneration. J. Ocul. Pharmacol. 10, 591–604.
Bevers E. M., Comfurius P., Dekkers D. W. C., and Zwaal R. F. A. (1999) Lipid translocation across the plasma membrane of mammalian cells. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1439, 317–330.
Boon J. M. and Smith B. D. (2002) Chemical control of phospholipid distribution across bilayer membranes. Med. Res. Rev. 22, 251–281.
Brand A., Gil S., and Yavin E. (2000) N-Methyl bases of ethanolamine prevent apoptotic cell death induced by oxidative stress in cells of oligodendroglia origin. J. Neurochem. 74, 1596–1604.
Brand A. and Yavin E. (2001) Early ethanolamine phospholipid translocation marks stress-induced apoptotic cell death in oligodendroglial cells. J. Neurochem. 78, 1208–1218.
Bratton D. L., Fadok V. A., Richter D. A., Kailey J. M., Guthrie L. A., and Henson P. M. (1997) Appearance of phosphatidylserine on apoptotic cells requires calcium-mediated nonspecific flip-flop and is enhanced by loss of the aminophospholipid translocase. J. Biol. Chem. 272, 26,159–26,165.
Bretscher M. S. (1973) Membrane structure: some general principles. Science 181, 622–629.
Brown D. A. and Rose J. K. (1992) Sorting of GPI-anchored proteins to glycolipids-enriched membrane subdomains during transport to the apical cell surface. Cell 68, 533–544.
Brown D. A. and London E. (1998) Function of lipid rafts in biological membranes. Ann. Rev. Cell. Devel. Biol. 14, 111–136.
Brown D. A. and London E. (2000) Structure and function of sphingolipid-and cholesterol-rich membrane rafts. J. Biol. Chem. 275, 17,221–17,224.
Budowski P. (1988) Omega-3-Fatty acids in health and disease. World Rev. Nutr. Diet 57, 214–274.
Edidin M. (2003) The state of lipid rafts: from model membranes to cells. Annu. Rev. Biophys. Biomolec. Struct. 32, 257–283.
Freedman S. D., Katz M. H., Parker E. M., Laposata M., Urman M. Y., and Alvarez J. G. (1999) A membrane lipid imbalance plays a role in the phenotypic expression of cystic fibrosis in cftr(−/−) mice. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 13,995–14,000.
Furuchi T. and Anderson R. G. W. (1998) Cholesterol depletion of caveoli. J. Biol. Chem. 273, 21,099–21,104.
Ghosh J. and Myers C. E. (1998) Inhibition of arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase triggers massive apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 13,182–13,187.
Hakomori S. and Igarashi Y. (1993) Gangliosides and glycosphingolipids as modulators of cell growth, adhesion, and transmembrane signaling. Adv. Lipid Res. 25, 147–162.
Hakomori S. and Igarashi Y. (1995) Functional role of glycosphingolipids in cell recognition and signaling. J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 118, 1091–1103.
Hakomori S., Yamamura S., and Handa A. K. (1998) Signal transduction through glyco(sphingo)lipids. Introduction and recent studies on glyco(sphingo)lipid-enriched microdomains. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 845, 1–10.
Halliwell B. and Gutteridge J. M. (1984) Oxygen toxicity, oxygen radicals, transition metals and disease. Biochem. J. 219, 1–14.
Harbige L. S. (1998) Dietary ω6 and ω3 fatty acids in immunity and autoimmune disease. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 57, 555–562.
Hering H., Lin C. C., and Sheng M. (2003) Lipid rafts in the maintenance of synapses, dendritic spines, and surface AMPA receptor stability. J. Neurosci. 23, 3262–3271.
Iwabuchi K., Handa K., and Hakomori S. (2000) Separation of glycosphingolipid-enriched microdomains from caveolar membrane characterized by presence of caveolin. Methods Enzymol. 312, 488–494.
Koudinov A. R. and Koudinova N. V. (2001) Essential role for cholesterol in synaptic plasticity and neuronal degeneration. FASEB J. 15, 1858–1860.
Ledeen R. W., Wu G., Lu Z. H., Kozireski-Chuback D., and Fang Y. (1998) The role of GM1 and other gangliosides in neuronal differentiation. Overview and new finding. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 845, 161–175.
Ma L., Huang Y. Z., Pitcher G. M., Valtschanoff J. G., Ma Y. H., Feng L. Y., et al. (2003) Ligand-dependent recruitment of the ErbB4 signaling complex into neuronal lipid rafts. J. Neurosci. 23, 3164–3175.
Mauch D. H., Nagler K., Schumacher S., Goritz C., Muller E. C., Otto A., et al. (2001) CNS synaptogenesis promoted by glia-derived cholesterol. Science 294, 1354–1357.
Martinez M. and Vazquez E. (1998) MRI evidence that docosahexaenoic acid ethyl ester improves myelination in generalized peroxisomal disorders. Neurology 51, 26–32.
Melchior D. L. (1986) Lipid domains in fluid membranes: A quick-freeze differential scanning calorimetry study. Science 234, 1577–1580.
Mouritsen O. G. and Jorgensen K. (1998) A new look at lipid-membrane structure in relation to drug research. Pharmac. Res. 15, 1507–1519.
Phylactos A., Harbige L. S., and Crawford M. A. (1994) Essential fatty acids alter the activity of manganese-superoxide dismutase in rat heart. Lipids 29, 111–115.
Pike L. (2003) Lipid rafts: bringing order to chaos. J. Lipid Res. 44, 655–667.
Pric P. T., Nelson C. M., and Clarke S. D. (2000) Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid regulation of gene expression. Curr. Opin. Lipidol. 11, 3–7.
Rietved A. and Simons K. (1998) The differential miscibility of lipids as the basis for the formation of functional membrane rafts. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1376, 467–479.
Rodgers W. and Rose J. K. (1996) Exclusion of CD45 inhibits activity of p56lck associated with glycolipid-enriched membrane domains. J. Cell Biol. 135, 1515–1523.
Salem N. Jr. (1989) Omega-3 fatty acids: molecular and biochemical aspect. In New Protective Roles of Selected Nutrients in Human Nutrition. Spiller G. and Scala J., eds., Alan R. Liss, NY, pp. 109–228.
Seelig J. and Seelig A. (1980) A lipid conformation in model membranes and biological membranes. Quart. Rev. Biophys. 13, 19–61.
Sheets E. D., Lee G. M., Simson R., and Jacobsen K. (1997) Transient confinement of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein in the plasma membrane. Biochemistry 34, 12,449–12,459.
Singer S. J. and Nicolson G. L. (1972) The fluid mosaic model of cell membranes. Science 175, 720–731.
Simons K. and van Meer G. (1988) Lipid sorting in epithelial cells. Biochemistry 27, 6197–6202.
Simons K. and Ikonnen E. (1997) Functional rafts in cell membranes. Nature 389, 569–572.
Simons K. and Toomre D. (2000) Lipid rafts and signal transduction. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 1, 31–41.
Simons M., Keller P., De Strooper B., Beyreuther K., Dotti C. G., and Simons K. (1998) Cholesterol depletion inhibits the generation of beta-amyloid in hippocampal neurons. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 6460–6464.
Smart E. J., Graf G. A., McNiven M. A., Sessa W. C., Engelman J. A., Scherer P. E., et al. (1999) Caveolins, liquid-ordered domains, and signal transduction. Mol. Cell. Biol. 19, 7289–7304.
Stulnig T. M., Huber J., Leitinger N., Imre E. M., Angelisova P., Nowotny P., et al. (2001) Polyunsaturated eicosapentaenoic acid displaces proteins from membrane rafts by altering raft lipid composition. J. Biol. Chem. 276, 37,335–37,340.
Verkleij A. J. and Post J. A. (2000) Membrane phospholipid asymmetry and signal transduction. J. Membr. Biol. 178, 1–10.
Yavin E., Brand A., and Green P. (2002) Docosahexaenoic acid abundance in the brain: A biodevice to combat oxidative stress. Nutr. Neurosci. 5, 149–157.
Yeagle P. L. (1985) Cholesterol and the cell membrane. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 822, 267–287.
Yeagle P. L. (1993) The Membrane of Cells. Academic, San Diego, CA, pp. 69–165.
Zwaal R. F. A. and Schroit A. J. (1997) Pathophysiological implications of membrane phospholipid asymmetry in blood cells. Blood 89, 1121–1132.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yavin, E., Brand, A. (2005). From Intramolecular Asymmetries to Raft Assemblies. In: Mattson, M.P. (eds) Membrane Microdomain Signaling. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-803-X:001
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-803-X:001
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-354-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-803-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)