Assessment of Membrane Fluidity Fluctuations during Cellular Development Reveals Time and Cell Type Specificity

Abstract

Cell membrane is made up of a complex structure of lipids and proteins that diffuse laterally giving rise to what we call membrane fluidity. During cellular development, such as differentiation cell membranes undergo dramatic fluidity changes induced by proteins such as ARC and Cofilin among others. In this study we used the generalized polarization (GP) property of fluorescent probe Laurdan using two-photon microscopy to determine membrane fluidity as a function of time and for various cell lines. A low GP value corresponds to a higher fluidity and a higher GP value is associated with a more rigid membrane. Four different cell lines were monitored such as hN2, NIH3T3, HEK293 and L6 cells. Membrane fluidity was measured at 12h, 72h and 92 h. Our results show significant changes in membrane fluidity among all cell types at different time points. GP values tend to increase significantly within 92 h in hN2 cells and 72 h in NIH3T3 cells and only at 92 h in HEK293 cells. L6 showed a marked decrease in membrane fluidity at 72 h and starts to increase at 92 h. As expected, NIH3T3 cells have more rigid membrane at earlier time points. On the other hand, neurons tend to have the highest membrane fluidity at early time points emphasizing its correlation with plasticity and the need for this malleability during differentiation. This study sheds light on the involvement of membrane fluidity during neuronal differentiation and development of other cell lines.

Delivery of exogenous mitochondria via centrifugation enhances cellular metabolic function

“…2D ). The difference in mitochondria transfer efficiency between cells under the same conditions seems to be the result of the difference in cell-specific membrane fluidity 34 . Based on these results, we were convinced that centrifugal force alone could deliver mitochondria into cells in vitro , regardless of the cell type.…”

Lipidome alterations in human prefrontal cortex during development, aging, and cognitive disorders

“…Our analysis of the lipidome stages revealed a noticeable stepwise increase in predicted membrane fluidity from the infant to adult stages. While the mechanisms underlying this process are unclear, they might relate to neuron development and differentiation as increased membrane fluidity was reported for human primary neuron cultures [53].…”

Defining Lineage-Specific Membrane Fluidity Signatures that Regulate Adhesion Kinetics

“…Both studies indicate that membrane fluidity can be the more generic parameters influencing biological function of cells over adhesion characteristics. Given the important role of lipid membranes (i.e., membrane fluidity) in biological function such as cell adhesion, previous studies have characterized the fluidic properties of human primary neurons ( Bonaventura et al., 2014 , Noutsi et al., 2016 ), while others have examined the lipidomic profiles of lysed hepatocyte-like cells ( Kiamehr et al., 2017 ). However, limited numbers of studies have been performed to address its cell-type-specific signatures, especially in the context of stem cell biology; thus, the comprehensive characterization of membrane fluidity in various lineages is essential for gaining key membrane insights into cellular identity and differentiation.…”