Membrane lipid composistion plays a central role in maintaining epithelial cell adhesion to extracellular matrix

MARÍA GABRIELA MÁRQUEZ; LEOCATA NIETO, FRANCISCO; FAVALE, NICOLÁS; FERNANDEZ-TOMÉ, MARÍA DEL C; STERIN-SPEZIALE, NORMA

LIPIDS

Springer

Lugar: New York- USA, y Heidelberg- Alemania; Año: 2008 vol. 43 p. 343 - 352

0024-4201

Focal contacts (FC) are membrane-associated multi-protein complexes that mediate cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion. FC complexes are inserted in detergent-resistant membrane microdomains enriched in phosphatidylinositol-4, 5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2; however, the influence of membrane lipid composition in the preservation of FC structures has not been extensively addressed. In the present work, we studied the contribution of membrane lipids to the preservation of renal epithelial cell adhesion structures. We biochemically characterized the lipid composition of membrane-containing FC complexes. By using cholesterol and PtdIns(4,5)P2 affecting agents, we demonstrated that such agents did not affect any particular type of lipid but induced the formation of new FC-containing domains of completely different lipid composition. By using both biochemical approaches and fluorescence microscopy we demonstrated that phospholipid composition plays an essential role in the maintenance of FC structures involved in cell-ECM adhesion.