A Singular State of Membrane Lipids at Cell Growth Temperatures

Cells adjust their membrane lipid composition when they adapt to grow at different temperatures. The consequences of this adjustment for membrane properties and functions are not well understood. Our report shows that the temperature dependence of the diffusion of a probe molecule in multilayers for...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biochemistry (Easton) 1999-10, Vol.38 (40), p.13275-13278
Main Authors: Jin, A. J, Edidin, M, Nossal, R, Gershfeld, N. L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cell Division
Cell Membrane - chemistry
Cell Membrane - metabolism
Cell Membrane - physiology
Diffusion
Escherichia coli - cytology
Escherichia coli - growth & development
Fluorescent Dyes - metabolism
Lipid Bilayers - chemistry
Lipid Bilayers - metabolism
Membrane Lipids - chemistry
Membrane Lipids - metabolism
Membrane Lipids - physiology
Phosphatidylethanolamines - metabolism
Photochemistry
Spectrometry, Fluorescence
Temperature
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Summary:Cells adjust their membrane lipid composition when they adapt to grow at different temperatures. The consequences of this adjustment for membrane properties and functions are not well understood. Our report shows that the temperature dependence of the diffusion of a probe molecule in multilayers formed from total lipid extracts of E. coli has an anomalous maximum at a temperature corresponding to the growth temperature of each bacterial preparation (25, 29, and 32 °C). This increase in the lateral diffusion coefficient, D, is characteristic of membrane lipids in a critical state, for which large fluctuations of molecular area in the plane of the bilayer are expected. Therefore, changes in lipid composition may be due to a requirement that cells maintain their membranes in a state where molecular interactions and reaction rates are readily modulated by small, local perturbations of membrane organization.
ISSN:0006-2960
1520-4995
DOI:10.1021/bi9912084