title: AFM imaging of lipid domains in model membranes.
abstract: Characterization of the two-dimensional organization of biological membranes is one of the most important issues that remains to be achieved in order to understand their structure-function relationships. According to the current view, biological membranes would be organized in in-plane functional microdomains. At least for one category of them, called rafts, the lateral segregation would be driven by lipid-lipid interactions. Basic questions like the size, the kinetics of formation, or the transbilayer organization of lipid microdomains are still a matter of debate, even in model membranes. Because of its capacity to image structures with a resolution that extends from the molecular to the microscopic level, atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a useful tool for probing the mesoscopic lateral organization of lipid mixtures. This paper reviews AFM studies on lateral lipid domains induced by lipid-lipid interactions in model membranes.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Biochimie Structurale, CNRS UMR 5048-Univ. Montpellier I, INSERM U554, 29 rue de Navacelles, 34090 Montpellier Cedex, France. pem@cbs.univ-montp1.fr
authors.forename: Pierre Emmanuel
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Milhiet
authors.forename: Marie-Cécile
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Giocondi
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Le Grimellec
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010743:Phospholipids