Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026

Isolation Protocol of Mouse Monocyte-derived Dendritic Cells and Their Subsequent In Vitro Activation with Tumor Immune Complexes
Published on: May 31, 2018
Location, location, location: is membrane partitioning everything when it comes to innate immune activation?
Martha Triantafilou1, Philipp M Lepper, Robin Olden
1Department of Child Health, School of Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK; Infection and Immunity Group, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.
Abstract:
In the last twenty years, the general view of the plasma membrane has changed from a homogeneous arrangement of lipids to a mosaic of microdomains. It is currently thought that islands of highly ordered saturated lipids and cholesterol, which are laterally mobile, exist in the plane of the plasma membrane. Lipid rafts are thought to provide a means to explain the spatial segregation of certain signalling pathways emanating from the cell surface. They seem to provide the necessary microenvironment in order for certain specialised signalling events to take place, such as the innate immune recognition. The innate immune system seems to employ germ-lined encoded receptors, called pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), in order to detect pathogens. One family of such receptors are the Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which are the central "sensing" apparatus of the innate immune system. In recent years, it has become apparent that TLRs are recruited into membrane microdomains in response to ligands. These nanoscale assemblies of sphingolipid, cholesterol, and TLRs stabilize and coalesce, forming signalling platforms, which transduce signals that lead to innate immune activation. In the current paper, we will investigate all past and current literature concerning recruitment of extracellular and intracellular TLRs into lipid rafts and how this membrane organization modulates innate immune responses.
Related Concept Videos
B Cell Activation and Differentiation
When naive B cells encounter a specific antigen that can bind to the B cell receptor (BCR) on their surface, they undergo sensitization to respond to the antigen's presence. Sensitization begins with...
T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...
Acute Inflammation II: Cellular Phase
What are Membranes?
Cells of the Innate Immune Response
Phagocytes
Phagocytes police the peripheral tissues by removing cellular debris and responding to the invasion of foreign substances or pathogens. Many phagocytes attack and remove microorganisms even before lymphocytes detect them. The human body has two general...
Membrane Domains
Protein Domains
The membrane comprises a group of distinct proteins responsible for carrying out a cell's specific function. For example, the plasma membrane of the human sperm, or a single germ cell, contains a unique set of proteins in the anterior...
