Dynamic Reorganization and Correlation among Lipid Raft Components

J Am Chem Soc. 2016 Aug 10;138(31):9996-10001. doi: 10.1021/jacs.6b05540. Epub 2016 Aug 1.

Abstract

Lipid rafts are widely believed to be an essential organizational motif in cell membranes. However, direct evidence for interactions among lipid and/or protein components believed to be associated with rafts is quite limited owing, in part, to the small size and intrinsically dynamic interactions that lead to raft formation. Here, we exploit the single negative charge on the monosialoganglioside GM1, commonly associated with rafts, to create a gradient of GM1 in response to an electric field applied parallel to a patterned supported lipid bilayer. The composition of this gradient is visualized by imaging mass spectrometry using a NanoSIMS. Using this analytical method, added cholesterol and sphingomyelin, both neutral and not themselves displaced by the electric field, are observed to reorganize with GM1. This dynamic reorganization provides direct evidence for an attractive interaction among these raft components into some sort of cluster. At steady state we obtain an estimate for the composition of this cluster.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism
  • Cholesterol / chemistry
  • Electrodes
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Electrophoresis
  • G(M1) Ganglioside / chemistry*
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Lipid Bilayers / chemistry*
  • Membrane Microdomains / chemistry*
  • Motion
  • Sphingomyelins / chemistry

Substances

  • Lipid Bilayers
  • Sphingomyelins
  • G(M1) Ganglioside
  • Cholesterol