Illuminating the lipidome to advance biomedical research: peptide-based probes of membrane lipids.

ABSTRACT: Systematic investigation of the lipidome will reveal new opportunities for disease diagnosis and intervention. However, lipidomic research has been hampered by the lack of molecular tools to track specific lipids of interest. Accumulating reports indicate lipid recognition can be achieved with properly constructed short peptides in addition to large proteins. This review summarizes the key developments of this area within the past decade. Select lantibiotic peptides present the best examples of low-molecular-weight probes of membrane lipids, displaying selectivity comparable to lipid-binding proteins. Designed peptides, through biomimetic approaches and combinational screening, have begun to demonstrate their potential for lipid tracking in cultured cells and even in living organisms. Biop

SUBMITTER: Gao J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3905809 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature