betadex and 3-3--dioctadecylindocarbocyanine

Ternary lipid compositions in model membranes segregate into large-scale liquid-ordered (L(o)) and liquid-disordered (L(d)) phases. Here, we show mum-sized lipid domain separation leading to vesicle formation in unperturbed human HaCaT keratinocytes. Budding vesicles in the apical portion of the plasma membrane were predominantly labelled with L(d) markers 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate, 1,1'-dilinoleyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate, 1,1'-didodecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate and weakly stained by L(o) marker fluorescein-labeled cholera toxin B subunit which labels ganglioside GM(1) enriched plasma membrane rafts. Cholesterol depletion with methyl-beta-cyclodextrin enhanced DiI vesiculation, GM(1)/DiI domain separation and was accompanied by a detachment of the subcortical cytoskeleton from the plasma membrane. Based on these observations we describe the energetic requirements for plasma membrane vesiculation. We propose that the decrease in total 'L(o)/L(d)' boundary line tension arising from the coalescence of smaller L(d)-like domains makes it energetically favourable for L(d)-like domains to bend from flat mum-sized surfaces to cap-like budding vesicles. Thus living cells may utilize membrane line tension energies as a control mechanism of exocytic events.

Topics: Adhesiveness; beta-Cyclodextrins; Biophysical Phenomena; Carbocyanines; Cell Line; Cell Survival; Cytoplasmic Vesicles; Cytoskeleton; Exocytosis; Humans; Keratinocytes; Lipids

We have investigated raft formation in human platelets in response to cell activation. Lipid phase separation and domain formation were detected using the fluorescent dye 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethyl-indocarbocyanine perchlorate (diI-C(18)) that preferentially partitions into gel-like lipid domains. We showed that when human platelets are activated by cold and physiological agonists, rafts coalesce into visible aggregates. These events were disrupted by depletion of membrane cholesterol. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), we measured a thermal phase transition at around 30 degrees C in intact platelets, which we have assigned as the liquid-ordered to the liquid-disordered phase transition of rafts. Phase separation of the phospholipid and the sphingomyelin-enriched rafts could be observed as two phase transitions at around 15 and 30 degrees C, respectively. The higher transition, assigned to the rafts, was greatly enhanced with removal of membrane cholesterol. Detergent-resistant membranes (DRMs) were enriched in cholesterol (50%) and sphingomyelin (20%). The multi-functional platelet receptor CD36 selectively partitioned into DRMs, whereas the GPI-linked protein CD55 and the major platelet integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3a) did not, which suggests that the clustering of proteins within rafts is a regulated process dependent on specific lipid protein interactions. We suggest that raft aggregation is a dynamic, reversible physiological event triggered by cell activation.

Topics: beta-Cyclodextrins; Blood Platelets; Blotting, Western; Carbocyanines; CD36 Antigens; CD55 Antigens; Cell Separation; Cholesterol; Cyclodextrins; Fluorescent Dyes; Humans; Membrane Microdomains; Membranes, Artificial; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Platelet Activation; Platelet Glycoprotein GPIIb-IIIa Complex; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Sphingomyelins; Temperature