Research OverviewWhereas the bilayer organization of biomembranes can be reconstituted in artificial liposomes with a simple lipid composition, biomembranes contain thousands of different lipid species. The relative abundance of these lipids moreover varies from one organelle to another. Also from one leaflet to another, within the same bilayer, the distribution is asymmetric. Even more striking is the lateral segregation of lipids within the same leaflet.
This complex distribution of lipids suggests that the targeting of lipids is highly regulated and that cells require complex supramolecular lipid organization within membranes. One attractive proposal is that the formation of membrane domains is promoted by purely physical interactions between lipids and proteins. In this context, the idea of transient raft-like microdomain formation by clustering of sphingolipid and cholesterol has drawn much attention.
The aim of our laboratory is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the assembly and the dynamics of lipids and lipid domains via visualizing lipid molecules and to uncover the principle of the establishment of biomembranes.
RIKEN: Lipid Biology Laboratory ASI: Lipid Biology Laboratory
＊RIKEN NEWS September 2008
Frontlines
”Exploring cholesterol function and fighting against metabolic syndrome"
