Review abstract
Nature Cell Biology 9, 7 - 14 (2007)
doi:10.1038/ncb0107-7
Lipid rafts: at a crossroad between cell biology and physics
Ken Jacobson1, Ole G. Mouritsen2 & Richard G. W. Anderson3
Abstract
Membrane lateral heterogeneity is accepted as a requirement for the function of biological membranes and the notion of lipid rafts gives specificity to this broad concept. However, the lipid raft field is now at a technical impasse because the physical tools to study biological membranes as a liquid that is ordered in space and time are still being developed. This has lead to a disconnection between the concept of lipid rafts as derived from biochemical and biophysical assays and their existence in the cell. Here, we compare the concept of lipid rafts as it has emerged from the study of synthetic membranes with the reality of lateral heterogeneity in biological membranes. Further application of existing tools and the development of new tools are needed to understand the dynamic heterogeneity of biological membranes.
- Ken Jacobson is in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology & Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 121 Taylor Hall CB#7090, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
- Ole G. Mouritsen is in the MEMPHYS Center for Biomembrane Physics, Physics Department, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark.
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Richard G. W. Anderson is in the Department of Cell Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390–9039, USA.
e-mail: frap@med.unc.edu
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