Gel domains in the plasma membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: highly ordered, ergosterol-free, and sphingolipid-enriched lipid rafts.

ABSTRACT: The plasma membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was studied using the probes trans-parinaric acid and diphenylhexatriene. Diphenylhexatriene anisotropy is a good reporter of global membrane order. The fluorescence lifetimes of trans-parinaric acid are particularly sensitive to the presence and nature of ordered domains, but thus far they have not been measured in yeast cells. A long lifetime typical of the gel phase (>30 ns) was found in wild-type (WT) cells from two different genetic backgrounds, at 24 and 30 °C, providing the first direct evidence for the presence of gel domains in living cells. To understand their nature and location, the study of WT cells was extended to spheroplasts, the isolated plasma membrane, and liposomes from total lipid and plasma membrane lipid extracts (with

SUBMITTER: Aresta-Branco F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3037616 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature