Order in the chaos of a cell membrane
Friday, March 1, 2013 - 06:00
in Biology & Nature
An explanation has been proposed for the way in which ordered structures arise in cell membranes. Scientists have discovered how complex compounds of sugar and lipids -- known as glycolipids -- order themselves in cell membranes into rafts, namely small, highly organized domains. The arrangement of glycolipids on the surface of plant and animal cell membranes regulates numerous cellular processes. If errors occur in this process, diseases like PNH and BSE can arise.