title: Lipid rafts: new tools and a new component.
abstract: Lipid rafts are liquid ordered membrane domains enriched with sphingolipids and cholesterol. After 20 years since the proposal of the original concept, the structure and function of lipid rafts are still obscure. Recently new tools to study lipid rafts have been developed. Lysenin is a sphingomyelin binding protein that specifically recognizes the lipid clusters. Poly(ethyleneglycol)-derivatized cholesterol ether (PEG-Chol) is a non-toxic cholesterol probe. These probes have revealed the heterogeneity of lipid rafts. The heterogeneity of lipid rafts is further supported by the discovery of a new lipid component, phosphatidylglucoside. Metabolic inhibitors are another useful tool. Sulfamisterin is a new addition to the serine palmitoyltransferase inhibitors. Recent findings have uncovered a previously unrecognized activity of a glycosphingolipid synthesis inhibitor, D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol (D-PDMP).
authors.affiliation: Lipid Biology Laboratory, RIKEN (Institute of Physical and Chemical Research), Japan. kobayasi@riken.jp
authors.forename: Toshihide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Miwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yasuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagatsuka
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirabayashi
mesh_terms: D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D015335:Molecular Probes; D013107:Sphingolipids / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D015335:Molecular Probes; D013107:Sphingolipids