Tracking microdomain dynamics in cell membranes.
Studies of the diffusion of proteins and lipids in the plasma membrane of cells have long pointed to the presence of membrane domains. A major challenge in the field of membrane biology has been to characterize the various cellular structures and mechanisms that impede free diffusion in cell membranes and determine the consequences that membrane compartmentalization has on cellular biology. In this review, we will provide a brief summary of the classes of domains that have been characterized to date, focusing on recent efforts to identify the properties of lipid rafts in cells through measurements of protein and lipid diffusion.
Day
Charles A
CA
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA.
Kenworthy
Anne K
AK
D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D002772:Cholera Toxin / Q000378:metabolism; D004058:Diffusion; D006801:Humans; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D013816:Thermodynamics
D008565:Membrane Proteins; D002772:Cholera Toxin