Migrating human neutrophils exhibit dynamic spatiotemporal variation in membrane lipid organization.

ABSTRACT: Highly ordered sphingolipid-enriched lipid raft microdomains (LRMs) within plasma membranes purportedly function as specialized signaling platforms. Leukocyte migration is believed to entail LRM redistribution, but progress in studying LRMs in situ during cell movement has been limited. By using an improved method for imaging the spectral shift of the environmentally sensitive probe, laurdan (expressed as a generalized polarization function), the plasma membrane order (i.e., tight packing of membrane bilayer lipids) of human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) was mapped in real time during migration. Morphologically polarized PMNs exhibited prominent LRM clusters at the uropod, where in every instance membrane order was found to oscillate with mean periodicities of 37.0 ± 1.46 and 149.9

SUBMITTER: Sitrin RG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2951880 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature