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Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Author Spotlight: Exploring Plasma Membrane Repair Mechanisms with Innovative Thermoplasmonic Puncturing
Published on: January 19, 2024
Sphingolipid levels crucially modulate lateral microdomain organization of plasma membrane in living yeast
Jaroslav Vecer1, Petra Vesela2, Jan Malinsky2
1Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Ke Karlovu 5, 121 16 Prague 2, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
We report sphingolipid-related reorganization of gel-like microdomains in the plasma membrane of living Saccharomyces cerevisiae using trans-Parinaric acid (t-PnA) and 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH). Compared to control, the gel-like domains were significantly reduced in the membrane of a sphingolipid-deficient lcb1-100 mutant. The same reduction resulted from sphingolipid depletion by myriocin. The phenotype could be reverted when a myriocin-induced block in sphingolipid biosynthesis was bypassed by exogenous dihydrosphingosine. Lipid order of less-ordered membrane regions decreased with sphingolipid depletion as well, as documented by DPH fluorescence anisotropy. The data indicate that organization of lateral microdomains is an essential physiological role of these structural lipids.
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