Spatial and temporal control of signaling through lipid rafts

Sphingolipid- and cholesterol-dependent microdomains (rafts) order proteins at biological membranes and have been implicated in most signaling processes at the cell surface, but the principles and mechanisms through which lipid rafts influence signaling are not well understood. Recent studies have revealed how lipid rafts are rapidly redistributed and assembled locally in response to extracellular signals, and how components of raft-based signaling domains undergo rapid and regulated rearrangements influencing signal quality, duration, and strength. These findings highlight the exquisitely dynamic properties of signaling domains based on lipid rafts, and suggest that processes of raft trafficking and assembly take central roles in mediating spatial and temporal control of signaling.