Most biological membranes possess an asymmetric transbilayer distribution of phospholipids. Endogenous enzymes expend energy to maintain the arrangement by promoting the rate of phospholipid translocation, or flip-flop. Researchers have discovered ways to modify this distribution through the use of chemicals. This review presents a critical analysis of the phospholipid asymmetry data in the literature followed by a brief overview of the maintenance and physiological consequences of phospholipid asymmetry, and finishes with a list of chemical ways to alter phospholipid distribution by enhancement of flip-flop.
Copyright 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev, 22, No. 3, 251-281, 2002; Published online in wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/med.10009