Transient cholesterol effects on nicotinic acetylcholine receptor cell-surface mobility.

ABSTRACT: To what extent do cholesterol-rich lipid platforms modulate the supramolecular organization of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR)? To address this question, the dynamics of AChR particles at high density and its cholesterol dependence at the surface of mammalian cells were studied by combining total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and single-particle tracking. AChR particles tagged with a monovalent ligand, fluorescent α-bungarotoxin (αBTX), exhibited two mobile pools: i) a highly mobile one undergoing simple Brownian motion (16%) and ii) one with restricted motion (∼50%), the rest being relatively immobile (∼44%). Depletion of membrane cholesterol by methyl-α-cyclodextrin increased the fraction of the first pool to 22% and 33% after 15 and 40 min, respectively; the po

SUBMITTER: Almarza G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4074099 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature