Ceramide modulates de lipid membrane organisation at molecular and supramolecular levels,

CARRER, D. C.; HAERTEL, S.; MONACO, H.; MAGGIO, B.

CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS OF LIPIDS

Elsevier

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2003 vol. 122 p. 147 - 152

0009-3084

The role of lipids in membranes has changed rapidly from static to dynamic and emphasized their involvement in information transduction, linking temporal and topological structuring through compositionally driven effects. Ceramide has been described as an important modulator of different membrane functions. In mixtures with ganglioside GM1, the condensation induced by ceramide increases intermolecular interactions, leading to an increase of the phase transition temperature and size of the self-assembled structure. In mixtures with phosphatidylcholines, ceramide segregates laterally in the gel state, forming domains whose thickness depend on global concentration and chainasymmetry of the sphingolipid.