A unique feature of lipid dynamics in small intestinal brush border membrane

The lipid composition of the brush border membrane (BBM) or apical plasma membrane of enterocytes is characterized by a remarkably high glycosphingolipid content (glycosphingolipid: phospholipid:neutral lipid mole ratio of about 1:1:1). A manifestation of the high glycolipid content of the BBM is the lipid fluidity which is low compared to other mammalian plasma membranes and related to it a steep flexibility gradient: hydrocarbon chain segments close to the lipid-water interface have quasi-crystalline packing while hydrocarbon chain segments close to the centre of the lipid bilayer behave like a fluid. An important function of the BBM is the absorption of dietary lipids. The absorption of cholesterol from bile salt micelles has been shown to be protein-mediated. The integral membrane protein responsible for this activity has features similar to non-specific lipid transfer proteins. Another remarkable property of the BBM is described here: phospholipids are exchanged between the lipid bilayer of the BBM and the lipid bilayers of small unilamellar egg phosphatidylcholine (PC) vesicles. In the course of this probably 1:1 exchange, endogenous BBM phospholipids move out of the BBM and the lipid loss is compensated by the insertion of exogenous PC from the small unilamellar vesicles. This exchange activity is probably due to the same protein(s) responsible for lipid absorption in this membrane or at least related to the absorptive capacity of the BBM. The unique feature of small intestinal BBM is that the on- and off-rate of certain lipids is remarkably high: the underlying structure of this activity is still unknown.