Cell-free transfer of membrane lipids.

The roles of endosomal membrane lipids and NPC2 in cholesterol transfer and membrane fusion

Membrane-spanning lipids for an uncompromised monitoring of membrane fusion and intermembrane lipid transfer.

A Förster resonance energy transfer-based fusion and transfer assay was developed to study, in model membranes, protein-mediated membrane fusion and intermembrane lipid transfer of fluorescent sphingolipid analogs. For this assay, it became necessary to apply labeled reporter molecules that are resistant to spontaneous as well as protein-mediated intermembrane transfer. The novelty of this assa...

Decreased fluidity of red cell membrane lipids in abetalipoproteinemia.

Acanthocytic red cells in patients with abetalipoproteinemia are morphologically similar to the red cells in spur cell anemia. Fluidity of membrane lipids is decreased in spur cells due to their excess cholesterol content. Acanthocyte membranes have an increased content of sphingomyelin and a decreased content of lecithin. To assess the effect of this abnormality of acanthocyte membrane lipid c...

Application of NBD-Labeled Lipids in Membrane and Cell Biology

The fluorescent NBD group has come a long way in terms of biological applications since its discovery a few decades back. Although the field of fluorescently labeled lipids has grown over the years with the introduction of new fluorescent labels, NBD-labeled lipids continue to be a popular choice in membrane and cell biological studies due to desirable fluorescence characteristics of the NBD gr...

Transfer of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol membrane anchors to polypeptide acceptors in a cell-free system

Glycosylinositol phospholipid (GPI) membrane anchors are the sole means of membrane attachment of a large number of cell surface proteins, including the variant surface glycoproteins (VSGs) of the parasitic protozoan, Trypanosoma brucei. Biosynthetic data suggest that GPI-anchored proteins are synthesized with carboxy-terminal extensions that are immediately replaced by GPI, suggesting the exis...