Membrane lipids articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The function of de novo lipogenesis (DNL) in adipocytes has been a mystery as it contributes little to fat storage in these cells. Here, the authors show that DNL is a critical source of fatty acids for membrane-expanding processes like autophagy.

    • Leslie A. Rowland
    • , Adilson Guilherme
    •  & Michael P. Czech

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ferroptosis is cell death caused by lipid peroxidation and plasma membrane rupture. Here, the authors report an additional role for the lipid flippase SLC47A1 as a regulator of lipid remodeling and survival during ferroptosis, thereby providing a metabolic target for overcoming drug resistance.

    • Zhi Lin
    • , Jiao Liu
    •  & Minghua Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TMEM16F is a dual ion channel and lipid scramblase that is involved in blood coagulation and cell fusion. Here, authors elucidate how the protein is activated by Ca2+ to accomplish both functions in a single protein conformation.

    • Melanie Arndt
    • , Carolina Alvadia
    •  & Raimund Dutzler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    LtaA catalyzes glycolipid translocation by a ‘trap-and-flip’ mechanism, pointing to a shared mechanistic model among MFS lipid transporters. Asymmetric lateral openings allow access of the entire lipid substrate to the amphipathic central cavity.

    • Elisabeth Lambert
    • , Ahmad Reza Mehdipour
    •  & Camilo Perez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors present a strategy to construct dynamic biomolecular landscapes. Here, they derive a quantitative description of the distribution timescales and amplitudes of reorientational motion of POPC membranes from the combination of NMR relaxation data and frame analysis of MD simulations.

    • Albert A. Smith
    • , Alexander Vogel
    •  & Daniel Huster

  • Article
    | Open Access

    CDP-diacylglycerol (CDP-DAG) alcohol O-phosphatidyl transferases (CDP-APs) are conserved in archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes and catalyze the de novo synthesis of phospho-lipids from the precursor CDP-DAG and an alcohol. Here, the authors present the crystal structures of the Methanocaldococcus jannaschii phosphatidyl serine synthase (MjPSS) in four different states and suggest a model for its catalytic mechanism.

    • Martin Centola
    • , Katharina van Pee
    •  & Özkan Yildiz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fusion of cellular membranes begins with the formation of a stalk. Here, the authors develop a computationally efficient method for coarse-grained simulations of stalk formation and apply this approach to comprehensively analyse how stalk formation is influenced by the membrane lipid composition.

    • Chetan S. Poojari
    • , Katharina C. Scherer
    •  & Jochen S. Hub

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lysine acetylation regulates the function of soluble proteins in vivo, yet it remains largely unexplored whether lysine acetylation regulates the function of membrane proteins. Here, the authors map lysine acetylation predominantly in membrane-interaction regions in peripheral membrane proteins and show with three candidate proteins how lysine acetylation is a regulator of membrane protein function.

    • Alan K. Okada
    • , Kazuki Teranishi
    •  & Ralf Langen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The P4 ATPase lipid flippases play a crucial role in membrane biogenesis. Here the authors report the structure of the monomeric P4B ATPase Neo1 in several states, clarifying the mechanism of substrate transport.

    • Lin Bai
    • , Bhawik K. Jain
    •  & Huilin Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lipid droplet biogenesis is orchestrated by the conserved membrane protein Seipin via an unknown mechanism. Here, the authors use structural, biochemical and molecular dynamics simulation approaches to reveal the mechanism of lipid droplet formation by the yeast Seipin Sei1 and its partner Ldb16.

    • Yoel A. Klug
    • , Justin C. Deme
    •  & Pedro Carvalho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is a lipid made in the inner mitochondrial membrane with antioxidant roles throughout the cell, but regulation of its cellular distribution is unclear. Here the authors identify two proteins that have reciprocal CoQ trafficking functions to help coordinate CoQ localization in yeast.

    • Zachary A. Kemmerer
    • , Kyle P. Robinson
    •  & David J. Pagliarini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lipins need to bind cell membranes before they can function as phosphatidic acid phosphatases. Here, the authors elucidate the structural basis of lipin membrane-association and identify a lipin domain with a novel protein fold that is critical for membrane binding and full functionality of lipins.

    • Weijing Gu
    • , Shujuan Gao
    •  & Michael V. Airola

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The source of phospholipids to generate autophagosomal membranes, particularly after prolonged starvation, is not well characterized. Here, the authors show that CCTβ3, the rate limiting enzyme in phosphatidylcholine synthesis, is activated on lipid droplets and sustains long-term autophagy.

    • Yuta Ogasawara
    • , Jinglei Cheng
    •  & Toyoshi Fujimoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lipin/Pah phosphatidic acid phosphatases generate diacylglycerol to regulate triglyceride synthesis and cellular signaling. Here authors determine structures of Tetrahymena thermophila Pah2 and identify an N-terminal amphipathic helix essential for membrane association.

    • Valerie I. Khayyo
    • , Reece M. Hoffmann
    •  & Michael V. Airola

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cells maintain membrane fluidity by regulating lipid saturation, but the molecular mechanisms of this homeoviscous adaptation remain poorly understood. Here authors reconstituted the core machinery for regulating lipid saturation in baker’s yeast to directly characterize its response to defined membrane environments and uncover its mode-of-action.

    • Stephanie Ballweg
    • , Erdinc Sezgin
    •  & Robert Ernst

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) eliminate virus-infected and cancerous cells by secreting the pore-forming protein (perforin) and pro-apoptotic serine proteases (granzymes). Here authors show that two mechanisms protect the membranes of CTLs from disruption by perforin and granzymes.

    • Jesse A. Rudd-Schmidt
    • , Adrian W. Hodel
    •  & Ilia Voskoboinik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Chlamydia pneumoniae adhesin LIPP plays a role in host cell entry and infection. Here, the authors find that LIPP binds to the host plasma membrane and mediates phosphatidylserine translocation, enhancing pathogen internalization without induction of apoptosis.

    • Jan N. Galle
    • , Tim Fechtner
    •  & Johannes H. Hegemann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the healthy heart, the β2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR) signals through Gs and Gi proteins but the mechanism underlying G protein selectivity is not fully understood. Here, the authors show that membrane charge and intracellular cations modulate the β2AR−Gi3 interaction.

    • M. J. Strohman
    • , S. Maeda
    •  & B. K. Kobilka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) is synthesized by four separate pathways, although surprisingly, perturbing mitochondrial PE synthesis compromises mitochondrial function. Here, the authors show that mitochondrial PE synthesis is required for Complex III function and challenge PE trafficking dogma.

    • Elizabeth Calzada
    • , Erica Avery
    •  & Steven M. Claypool

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria consists of peptidoglycan modified with other polymers, such as the capsular polysaccharide. Here, the authors reconstitute the biosynthesis of capsular polysaccharide and elucidate its interplay with the cell wall biosynthetic machinery.

    • Marvin Rausch
    • , Julia P. Deisinger
    •  & Tanja Schneider

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Autophagic cells coordinate substrate remodeling with sequestration during autophagosome formation. Here, the authors show that during Parkin-mediated mitophagy, mitochondria are disassembled into progressively smaller aggregates near autophagy initiation sites in a PtdIns(4,5)P2-dependent manner.

    • Cheng-Wei Hsieh
    •  & Wei Yuan Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Drp1 and Dnm2 have been implicated in mitochondrial fission events, although their specific activities in constriction and scission have been unclear. Here, the authors demonstrate that Drp1 is sufficient to constrict and sever mitochondrial and peroxisomal membranes in the absence of Dnm proteins.

    • Sukrut C. Kamerkar
    • , Felix Kraus
    •  & Michael T. Ryan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Membrane bilayers are made up of a myriad of different lipids that affect membrane proteins, but identifying those specific lipid requirements remains a challenge. Here authors present an engineered thermal-shift screen which reveals specific lipid preferences of eukaryotic and prokaryotic membrane proteins.

    • Emmanuel Nji
    • , Yurie Chatzikyriakidou
    •  & David Drew

  • Article
    | Open Access

    G-protein-coupled receptors trigger several signalling pathways and their activity was proposed to be allosteric modulated by cholesterol. Here the authors use molecular dynamics simulations and ligand binding assays to show that membrane cholesterol can bind to adenosine A2Areceptor orthosteric site.

    • Ramon Guixà-González
    • , José L. Albasanz
    •  & Jana Selent

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mechanosensation by biological membranes can be relayed by mechanical tension to ion channels. Here the authors show that phospholipase D (PLD) is activated by mechanical disruption of lipid rafts which allows PLD to mix with its substrate in the lipid membrane, and propose a kinetic model of force transduction.

    • E. Nicholas Petersen
    • , Hae-Won Chung
    •  & Scott B. Hansen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The molecular transport through bio-membranes of cells heavily relies on the dynamics of lipids, but the related mechanism remains unknown. Here, Zhernenkov et al. observe the propagating transverse phonon mode with a finite band gap and suggest its connection to short-lived local lipid clustering.

    • Mikhail Zhernenkov
    • , Dima Bolmatov
    •  & Yong Q. Cai

  • Article |

    The analysis of cell membrane biology, and in particular the constituent lipid content, can yield important information on cell function. Here, the authors present a method to selectively and covalently label amine-presenting lipids in bacterial cell membranes.

    • Anupam Bandyopadhyay
    • , Kelly A. McCarthy
    •  & Jianmin Gao

  • Article |

    Membrane curvature and lipid composition direct the binding of many peripheral membrane proteins. Here, Vanni et al. use a combination of in vitroand molecular dynamics approaches to quantify how lipid-packing defects in membranes of various composition and curvature dictate the membrane adsorption of a model lipid-binding protein.

    • Stefano Vanni
    • , Hisaaki Hirose
    •  & Romain Gautier

  • Article |

    The plasma membrane is thought to comprise a patchwork of ordered and disordered microdomains; however, direct evidence for this in intact cells remains elusive. Using unmixing of fluorescence lifetime decays, Owen et al. show that ordered domains occupy a majority of the plasma membrane surface in living cells.

    • Dylan M. Owen
    • , David J. Williamson
    •  & Katharina Gaus

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