Virtanen J A, Cheng K H, Somerharju P
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Apr 28;95(9):4964-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.9.4964.
Although the phospholipid composition of the erythrocyte membrane has been studied extensively, it remains an enigma as to how the observed composition arises and is maintained. We show here that the phospholipid composition of the human erythrocyte membrane as a whole, as well as the composition of its individual leaflets, is closely predicted by a model proposing that phospholipid head groups tend to adopt regular, superlattice-like lateral distributions. The phospholipid composition of the erythrocyte membrane from most other mammalian species, as well as of the platelet plasma membrane, also agrees closely with the predictions of the superlattice model. Statistical analyses indicate that the agreement between the observed and predicted compositions is highly significant, thus suggesting that head group superlattices may indeed play a central role in the maintenance of the phospholipid composition of the erythrocyte membrane.
尽管对红细胞膜的磷脂组成已进行了广泛研究,但关于所观察到的组成是如何产生并维持的,仍然是个谜。我们在此表明,整体上人类红细胞膜的磷脂组成及其各个小叶的组成,与一个模型的预测结果密切相符,该模型提出磷脂头部基团倾向于采用规则的、类似超晶格的横向分布。大多数其他哺乳动物物种的红细胞膜以及血小板质膜的磷脂组成,也与超晶格模型的预测结果高度一致。统计分析表明,观察到的组成与预测组成之间的一致性非常显著,这表明头部基团超晶格可能确实在维持红细胞膜的磷脂组成中发挥核心作用。