title: Building a patchwork - The yeast plasma membrane as model to study lateral domain formation.
abstract: The plasma membrane (PM) has to fulfill a wide range of biological functions including selective uptake of substances, signal transduction and modulation of cell polarity and cell shape. To allow efficient regulation of these processes many resident proteins and lipids of the PM are laterally segregated into different functional domains. A particularly striking example of lateral segregation has been described for the budding yeast PM, where integral membrane proteins as well as lipids exhibit very slow translational mobility and form a patchwork of many overlapping micron-sized domains. Here we discuss the molecular and physical mechanisms contributing to the formation of a multi-domain membrane and review our current understanding of yeast PM organization. Many of the fundamental principles underlying membrane self-assembly and organization identified in yeast are expected to equally hold true in other organisms, even for the more transient and elusive organization of the PM in mammalian cells. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Nanoscale membrane organisation and signalling.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell Dynamics and Imaging, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 56, 48149 Münster, Germany; Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence (EXC 1003 - CiM), University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schuberth
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell Dynamics and Imaging, University of Münster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 56, 48149 Münster, Germany; Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence (EXC 1003 - CiM), University of Münster, Münster, Germany. Electronic address: wedlich@uni-muenster.de.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wedlich-Söldner
mesh_terms: D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000378:metabolism; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D008565:Membrane Proteins
keywords: Membrane organization; Plasma membrane; Yeast