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Lipid microdomains in model and biological membranes: how strong are the connections?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2006

John Silvius
John Silvius
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3G 1Y6
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Abstract

1. Introduction 373

2. Are rafts probable? 374

3. Micro-, nano- or ephemeral domains? 375

4. How can we reliably assess ‘raft’ composition? 376

5. Are rafts plausible? 379

6. What more can model systems contribute to ‘raft’ studies? 381

7. References 382

The concept of ‘lipid rafts’ and related liquid-ordered membrane microdomains has attracted great attention in the field of membrane biology, both as a novel paradigm in models of membrane organization and for the potential importance of such domains in phenomena such as membrane signaling and the differential trafficking of various membrane components. Studies of biological and of model membranes have gone hand in hand in shaping our current picture of the possible organization and functions of liquid-ordered lipid microdomains in membranes. This essay discusses some important current questions concerning the existence and functional importance of lipid microdomains in mammalian cell membranes, and the potential as well as the limitations of using model systems to help to address such questions.

Type
Essay
Information
Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics , Volume 38 , Issue 4 , November 2005 , pp. 373 - 383
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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