Structural determinants and functional consequences of protein affinity for membrane rafts.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic plasma membranes are compartmentalized into functional lateral domains, including lipid-driven membrane rafts. Rafts are involved in most plasma membrane functions by selective recruitment and retention of specific proteins. However, the structural determinants of transmembrane protein partitioning to raft domains are not fully understood. Hypothesizing that protein transmembrane domains (TMDs) determine raft association, here we directly quantify raft affinity for dozens of TMDs. We identify three physical features that independently affect raft partitioning, namely TMD surface area, length, and palmitoylation. We rationalize these findings into a mechanistic, physical model that predicts raft affinity from the protein sequence. Application of these concepts to the human proteo

SUBMITTER: Lorent JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5663905 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature