title: Ceramide modulates the lipid membrane organization at molecular and supramolecular levels.
abstract: The role of lipids in membranes has changed rapidly from static to dynamic and emphasized their involvement in information transduction, linking temporal and topological structuring through compositionally driven effects. Ceramide has been described as an important modulator of different membrane functions. In mixtures with ganglioside GM1, the condensation induced by ceramide increases intermolecular interactions, leading to an increase of the phase transition temperature and size of the self-assembled structure. In mixtures with phosphatidylcholines, ceramide segregates laterally in the gel state, forming domains whose thickness depend on global concentration and chain asymmetry of the sphingolipid.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Biológica-CIQUIBIC, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Dolores C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Carrer
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Härtel
authors.forename: Hugo L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Mónaco
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maggio
mesh_terms: D002518:Ceramides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D015394:Molecular Structure; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D002518:Ceramides; D008563:Membrane Lipids