The action of Sphingomyelinase in lipid monolayers as revealed by microscopic image analysis

FANANI, M. L.; HÄRTEL, S.; MAGGIO, B.; DE TULLIO, L.; JARA, J.; OLMOS, F; RAFAEL GUSTAVO OLIVEIRA

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2010 vol. 1798 p. 1309 - 1309

n recent years, new evidence in biomembrane research brought about a holistic, supramolecular view on membrane-mediated signal transduction. The consequences of sphingomyelinase (SMase)-driven formation of ceramide (Cer) at the membrane interface involves reorganization of the lateral membrane structure of lipids and proteins from the nm to the μm level. In this review, we present recent insights about mechanisms and features of the SMase-mediated formation of Cer-enriched domains in model membranes, which have been elucidated through a combination of microscopic techniques with advanced image processing algorithms. This approach extracts subtle morphological and pattern information beyond the visual perception: since domain patterns are the consequences of subjacent biophysical properties, a reliable quantitative description of the supramolecular structure of the membrane domains yields a direct readout of biophysical properties which are difficult to determine otherwise. Most o