Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 70030, USA.
Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 70030, USA.
Trends Cell Biol. 2020 May;30(5):341-353. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2020.01.009. Epub 2020 Feb 20.
The lipid raft hypothesis postulates that lipid-lipid interactions can laterally organize biological membranes into domains of distinct structures, compositions, and functions. This proposal has in equal measure exhilarated and frustrated membrane research for decades. While the physicochemical principles underlying lipid-driven domains has been explored and is well understood, the existence and relevance of such domains in cells remains elusive, despite decades of research. Here, we review the conceptual underpinnings of the raft hypothesis and critically discuss the supporting and contradicting evidence in cells, focusing on why controversies about the composition, properties, and even the very existence of lipid rafts remain unresolved. Finally, we highlight several recent breakthroughs that may resolve existing controversies and suggest general approaches for moving beyond questions of the existence of rafts and towards understanding their physiological significance.
脂质筏假说认为，脂质-脂质相互作用可以将生物膜横向组织成具有不同结构、组成和功能的域。几十年来，这一假说在激发和阻碍膜研究方面都取得了同等的进展。尽管脂质驱动的域的物理化学原理已经得到了探索和充分理解，但这些域在细胞中的存在和相关性仍然难以捉摸，尽管已经进行了几十年的研究。在这里，我们回顾了筏理论的概念基础，并批判性地讨论了细胞中支持和矛盾的证据，重点讨论了为什么关于脂质筏的组成、性质，甚至其存在的争议仍未得到解决。最后，我们强调了几个最近的突破，这些突破可能解决现有的争议，并提出了超越筏子存在问题、理解其生理意义的一般方法。
