title: Lipid raft: A floating island of death or survival.
abstract: Lipid rafts are microdomains of the plasma membrane enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids, and play an important role in the initiation of many pharmacological agent-induced signaling pathways and toxicological effects. The structure of lipid rafts is dynamic, resulting in an ever-changing content of both lipids and proteins. Cholesterol, as a major component of lipid rafts, is critical for the formation and configuration of lipid raft microdomains, which provide signaling platforms capable of activating both pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic signaling pathways. A change of cholesterol level can result in lipid raft disruption and activate or deactivate raft-associated proteins, such as death receptor proteins, protein kinases, and calcium channels. Several anti-cancer drugs are able to suppress growth and induce apoptosis of tumor cells through alteration of lipid raft contents via disrupting lipid raft integrity.
authors.affiliation: Edison Biotechnology Institute and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Shiyong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002470:Cell Survival; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000378:metabolism; D021962:Membrane Microdomains / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D011506:Proteins; D002784:Cholesterol