Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026

Lipid Vesicle-mediated Affinity Chromatography using Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting (LIMACS): a Novel Method to Analyze Protein-lipid Interaction
Published on: April 26, 2011
Ablation of ceramide synthase 2 strongly affects biophysical properties of membranes
Liana C Silva1, Oshrit Ben David2, Yael Pewzner-Jung2
1iMed.UL, Research Institute for Medicines and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal; Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel; CQFM & IN, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
Abstract:
Little is known about the effects of altering sphingolipid (SL) acyl chain structure and composition on the biophysical properties of biological membranes. We explored the biophysical consequences of depleting very long acyl chain (VLC) SLs in membranes prepared from lipid fractions isolated from a ceramide synthase 2 (CerS2)-null mouse, which is unable to synthesize C22-C24 ceramides. We demonstrate that ablation of CerS2 has different effects on liver and brain, causing a significant alteration in the fluidity of the membrane and affecting the type and/or extent of the phases present in the membrane. These changes are a consequence of the depletion of VLC and unsaturated SLs, which occurs to a different extent in liver and brain. In addition, ablation of CerS2 causes changes in intrinsic membrane curvature, leading to strong morphological alterations that promote vesicle adhesion, membrane fusion, and tubule formation. Together, these results show that depletion of VLC-SLs strongly affects membrane biophysical properties, which may compromise cellular processes that critically depend on membrane structure, such as trafficking and sorting.
Related Concept Videos
Asymmetric Lipid Bilayer
Assembly of the Lipid Bilayer in the ER
A large chunk of any biological membrane is composed of phospholipids. These lipids have a heterogeneous distribution across different subcellular organelles and even between...
Mechanisms of Membrane-bending
Membrane bending can happen due to intrinsic changes in lipid composition or extrinsic association with different proteins. The proteins involved...
Biosynthesis of Lipids
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...
Membrane Fluidity

