Understanding the diversity of membrane lipid composition

Abstract

Cellular membranes are formed from a chemically diverse set of lipids present in various amounts and proportions. A high lipid diversity is universal in eukaryotes and is seen from the scale of a membrane leaflet to that of a whole organism, highlighting its importance and suggesting that membrane lipids fulfil many functions. Indeed, alterations of membrane lipid homeostasis are linked to various diseases. While many of their functions remain unknown, interdisciplinary approaches have begun to reveal novel functions of lipids and their interactions. We are beginning to understand why even small changes in lipid structures and in composition can have profound effects on crucial biological functions.

It Takes Two to Tango: Activation of Protein Kinase D by Dimerization

“…In contrast to the phosphoinositides, with their bulky headgroup that favors positive membrane curvature, the headgroup of DAG is small and easily obscured by the headgroups of neighboring lipids (umbrella effect). Consequently, recognition of DAG by cellular effectors depends largely on the introduction of packing defects in the membrane that promote exposure of both DAG and the apolar regions of neighboring lipids …”

“…Signaling lipids are typically a minor component in a sea of lipids that define the target membrane of signal transducers such as PKD. Eukaryotic cells contain more than 1000 lipid species, which, in combination with transmembrane and membrane binding proteins, confer unique physico‐chemical properties like curvature, surface charge, fluidity, and permeability that are essential for controlling the transport of molecules, fission and fusion of cellular compartments, and signal transduction . In the following section, we will review the physico‐chemical properties of DAGs, and how these impact their recognition by signaling proteins, including PKD, that contain specific DAG‐binding C1 domains.…”

Dynamic Vesicles Formed By Dissipative Self‐Assembly

“…Phospholipids are the main component of biological membranes . Synthetic analogues of these phospholipids have gained significant attention over the past decades as they are ideal model systems for the biological cell membranes . However, a crucial difference between synthetic phospholipid membranes and biological ones lies in their dynamics, i .…”

Picturing the Membrane‐assisted Choreography of Cytochrome P450 with Lipid Nanodiscs

“…[89] Integral and membrane proteins account for roughly one-third of the full proteome [89] and thus protein-lipid interactions are of paramount interest in pharmaceutical discovery. [91][92] Highresolution determination of molecular structure using diffraction methods requires high quality 3D crystals that are hard to obtain for membrane proteins, although significant breakthrough have been made by lipid-cubic phase crystallography and cryo-EM techniques. [91][92] Highresolution determination of molecular structure using diffraction methods requires high quality 3D crystals that are hard to obtain for membrane proteins, although significant breakthrough have been made by lipid-cubic phase crystallography and cryo-EM techniques.…”