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Query: UNIPROT:P50583 (asymmetrical)
 12,197 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Transmembrane asymmetry has been extensively studied in eukaryotic cells. It is as yet only clearly demonstrated in the plasma membrane of a few cells. Subcellular organelles have evidence of lipid asymmetry, but very little consistent quantitative data exist. Proteins involved in transmembrane passage of lipids comprise enzymes of lipid metabolism and also the so-called phospholipid flippases that are either passive or active putative lipid transporters. The aminophospholipid translocase that pumps amino-phospholipids from the outer to the inner monolayer of the plasma membrane of eukaryotes is a Mg(2+)-ATP dependent protein with a high lipid selectivity. Lipid asymmetry provides an asymmetrical environment for membrane enzymes. Thus, PS (and PE) reorientation could be a way of controlling or triggering specific enzymes. Also, the asymmetrical distribution of phospholipids most likely determines the fusion-competent membranes and/or which sides of membranes should fuse. Finally, the lipid pump as well as all enzymes responsible for the net transmembrane flux of phospholipids may provide the driving force for membrane bending, notably during the formation of endocytic vesicles. Clearly, real progress in this area will be made only if the proteins of the flippase family are purified and antibodies obtained that will permit the recognition and localization of these proteins in various cells. Also, specific inhibitors as well as mutants would allow one to infer more directly what are the real functions of these proteins. At a late stage, the protein purification will eventually permit speculation on the mechanism of action of a pump that must transport simultaneously hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups through a membrane.
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PMID:Protein involvement in transmembrane lipid asymmetry. 152 72

Exposure of cultured neonatal rat heart cells to simulated ischaemia results in a cessation of the spontaneous contractile activity and changes at both the level of sarcolemmal phospholipid topology and the ultrastructural level. Reperfusion at a timepoint before irreversible cell damage develops leads to a recovery of contractile activity. Furthermore, the shift in transbilayer distribution of sarcolemmal phosphatidylethanolamine in favour of the outer membrane leaflet, due to the ischaemic period, is reversed during subsequent reperfusion. Also the morphological changes (mitochondrial oedema, reorganization of the mitochondrial cristae and the formation of extrusions at the sarcolemma) are reversible. At the same time total intracellular ATP levels are restored to 80% of control. The role of cellular ATP content on sarcolemmal phospholipid topology was further studied by the use of the calcium antagonist verapamil (10 microM), which preserved cellular ATP content by inhibiting cell contractility before the onset of ischaemia. After 120 min of ischaemia, cell ATP content was still 63% of control in the presence of verapamil, versus 20% of control in untreated cells. Verapamil treatment also prevented the loss of the asymmetrical distribution of phosphatidylethanolamine and sarcolemmal disruption, the latter occurring during 120 min of ischaemia in untreated cells. It is proposed that maintenance of phospholipid asymmetry of the sarcolemma of the myocytes depends on the cellular ATP concentrations, indicating the involvement of an ATP dependent aminophospholipid translocase.
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PMID:Sarcolemmal phosphatidylethanolamine reorganization during simulated ischaemia and reperfusion: reversibility and ATP dependency. 890 44

A theoretical analysis of the lipid translocation in cellular bilayer membranes is presented. We focus on an integrative model of active and passive transport processes determining the asymmetrical distribution of the major lipid components between the monolayers. The active translocation of the aminophospholipids phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine is mathematically described by kinetic equations resulting from a realistic ATP-dependent transport mechanism. Concerning the passive transport of the aminophospholipids as well as of phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, and cholesterol, two different approaches are used. The first treatment makes use of thermodynamic flux-force relationships. Relevant forces are transversal concentration differences of the lipids as well as differences in the mechanical states of the monolayers due to lateral compressions. Both forces, originating primarily from the operation of an aminophospholipid translocase, are expressed as functions of the lipid compositions of the two monolayers. In the case of mechanical forces, lipid-specific parameters such as different molecular surface areas and compression force constants are taken into account. Using invariance principles, it is shown how the phenomenological coefficients depend on the total lipid amounts. In a second approach, passive transport is analyzed in terms of kinetic mechanisms of carrier-mediated translocation, where mechanical effects are incorporated into the translocation rate constants. The thermodynamic as well as the kinetic approach are applied to simulate the time-dependent redistribution of the lipid components in human red blood cells. In the thermodynamic model the steady-state asymmetrical lipid distribution of erythrocyte membranes is simulated well under certain parameter restrictions: 1) the time scales of uncoupled passive transbilayer movement must be different among the lipid species; 2) positive cross-couplings of the passive lipid fluxes are needed, which, however, may be chosen lipid-unspecifically. A comparison of the thermodynamic and the kinetic approaches reveals that antiport mechanisms for passive lipid movements may be excluded. Simulations with kinetic symport mechanisms are in qualitative agreement with experimental data but show discrepancies in the asymmetrical distribution for sphingomyelin.
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PMID:Kinetic and thermodynamic aspects of lipid translocation in biological membranes. 1004 13