Efficient replacement of plasma membrane outer leaflet phospholipids and sphingolipids in cells with exogenous lipids

74Citations
Citations of this article
125Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Our understanding of membranes and membrane lipid function has lagged far behind that of nucleic acids and proteins, largely because it is difficult to manipulate cellular membrane lipid composition. To help solve this problem, we show that methyl-α-cyclodextrin (MαCD)-catalyzed lipid exchange can be used to maximally replace the sphingolipids and phospholipids in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane of living mammalian cells with exogenous lipids, including unnatural lipids. In addition, lipid exchange experiments revealed that 70-80% of cell sphingomyelin resided in the plasma membrane outer leaflet; the asymmetry of metabolically active cells was similar to that previously defined for erythrocytes, as judged by outer leaflet lipid composition; and plasma membrane outer leaflet phosphatidylcholine had a significantly lower level of unsaturation than phosphatidylcholine in the remainder of the cell. The data also provided a rough estimate for the total cellular lipids residing in the plasma membrane (about half). In addition to such lipidomics applications, the exchange method should have wide potential for investigations of lipid function and modification of cellular behavior by modification of lipids.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Li, G., Kim, J., Huang, Z., St Clair, J. R., Brown, D. A., & London, E. (2016). Efficient replacement of plasma membrane outer leaflet phospholipids and sphingolipids in cells with exogenous lipids. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(49), 14025–14030. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1610705113

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free