Imaging lipid domains in cell membranes: the advent of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy

Dylan M. Owen, Katharina Gaus

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The lipid bilayer of model membranes, liposomes reconstituted from cell lipids, and plasma membrane vesicles and spheres can separate into two distinct liquid phases to yield lipid domains with liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered properties. These observations are the basis of the lipid raft hypothesis that postulates the existence of cholesterol-enriched ordered-phase lipid domains in cell membranes that could regulate protein mobility, localization and interaction. Here we review the evidence that nano-scaled lipid complexes and meso-scaled lipid domains exist in cell membranes and how new fluorescence microscopy techniques that overcome the diffraction limit provide new insights into lipid organization in cell membranes.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)N/A
JournalFrontiers in Plant Science
Volume4
Issue numberN/A
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Dec 2013

Keywords

  • lipid rafts
  • membrane microdomains
  • super-resolution
  • fluorescence
  • cell membranes
  • STRUCTURED ILLUMINATION MICROSCOPY
  • DETERGENT-RESISTANT MEMBRANES
  • PAIR-CORRELATION-ANALYSIS
  • PLASMA-MEMBRANE
  • CORRELATION SPECTROSCOPY
  • STED NANOSCOPY
  • LIVING CELL
  • LIVE CELLS
  • PROTEIN HETEROGENEITY
  • STIMULATED-EMISSION

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