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The systematic analysis of protein–lipid interactions comes of age

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 16, pages 753–761 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Lipids tailor membrane identities and function as molecular hubs in all cellular processes. However, the ways in which lipids modulate protein function and structure are poorly understood and still require systematic investigation. In this Innovation article, we summarize pioneering technologies, including lipid-overlay assays, lipid pull-down assays, affinity-purification lipidomics and the liposome microarray-based assay (LiMA), that will enable protein–lipid interactions to be deciphered on a systems level. We discuss how these technologies can be applied to the charting of system-wide networks and to the development of new pharmaceutical strategies.

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Figure 1: System-wide methods for capturing protein–lipid interactions.
Figure 2: Timeline of key events in protein–lipid interaction research.
Figure 3: Future scientific and technological challenges for liposome microarray-based assays (LiMA).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all members of A.-C.G.'s groups for continuous discussions and support. This work was partially funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; 01GS0865) in the framework of the IG-Cellular System Genomics project and the CellNetworks (Excellence Initiative of the University of Heidelberg) community to A.-C.G. A.-E.S. was supported by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the EU Marie Curie Actions Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral cofund Programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Molecular Infection Biology and Core Unit Systems Medicine, University of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Strasse 2, Würzburg, D-97080, Germany

    Antoine-Emmanuel Saliba

  2. European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Structural and Computational Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg, D-69117, Germany

    Ivana Vonkova

  3. European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Structural and Computational Biology Unit and Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg, D-69117, Germany

    Anne-Claude Gavin

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  1. Antoine-Emmanuel Saliba
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Correspondence to Anne-Claude Gavin.

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The authors declare competing financial interests in the form of a patent application based on the method liposome microarray-based assay (LiMA).

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Saliba, AE., Vonkova, I. & Gavin, AC. The systematic analysis of protein–lipid interactions comes of age. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 16, 753–761 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm4080

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