Functional rafts in cell membranes

TL;DR: The chain length-specific differences of ceramides including their pathological impact on Alzheimer's disease, inflammation, autophagy, apoptosis and cancer are discussed.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors summarize the evidence that glycosyl epitopes in micro-domains mediate cell adhesion and signal transduction events that affect cellular phenotypes.

TL;DR: Differences between apical and basolateral carriers as well as new 'hot spots' for exocytosis are revealed and lateral segregation in the trans-Golgi network is the primary sorting event.

TL;DR: An expression screen of a rat cDNA library for sequences encoding Golgi‐localized integral membrane proteins identified a protein with an apparent novel topology, i.e. with both an N‐terminal transmembrane domain and a GPI anchor, that would have a topology that, in mammalian cells, is shared only by a minor, but pathologically important, topological isoform of the prion protein (PrP).

TL;DR: It is shown that a protein with a glycosylphosphatidyl inositol (GPI) anchor can be recovered from lysates of epithelial cells in a low density, detergent-insoluble form, supporting the model proposed by Simons and colleagues for sorting of certain membrane proteins to the apical surface after intracellular association with glycosphingolipids.

TL;DR: Results strongly indicate that the bivalent antibodies produce an aggregation of the surface immunoglobulin molecules in the plane of the membrane, which can occur only if the immunoglOBulin molecules are free to diffuse in the membrane.

TL;DR: Polarized epithelial cells play fundamental roles in the ontogeny and function of a variety of tissues and organs in mammals and are the first overt sign of cellular differentiation in early embryonic development.

TL;DR: It is shown that caveolin interacts with another well characterized signal transducer, Ras, and that recombinant overexpression of caveolin in intact cells is sufficient to functionally recruit a nonfarnesylated mutant of Ras onto membranes, overcoming the normal requirement for lipid modification of Ras.