New look at cell membrane reveals surprising organization
Monday, January 28, 2013 - 16:39
in Biology & Nature
A look directly at the cell membrane is changing our understanding of its organization. Using a completely new approach to imaging cell membranes, a new study has revealed surprising relationships among membrane molecules. Sphingolipids are thought to form small microdomains in the membrane, but the new technique showed that they cluster together to form much larger patches, and are not as cholesterol dependent as expected.