title: Insights on raft behavior from minimal phenomenological models.
abstract: We construct a simple phenomenological theory of phase separation in ternary mixtures of cholesterol and saturated and unsaturated lipids. Such separation is relevant to the formation of 'rafts' in the plasma membrane. We also show how simple cross-linking of proteins which prefer one form of lipid to the other can trigger raft-formation, the first step in a signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1560, USA.
authors.forename: G Garbès
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Putzel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schick
mesh_terms: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry*; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000737:chemistry*; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D008051:Lipid Bilayers