Protein-Lipid Interactions
The lipid raft hypothesis holds that lipids in the cell membrane separate into distinct liquid phases, and that protein segregation to a specific phase controls protein function. We build model membranes consisting of phase-separating lipid mixtures and high concentrations of intrinsic membrane proteins to directly observe under what conditions proteins phase segregate. The image above shows the intrinsic membrane protein aquaporin SoPIP2;1 segregating to the liquid disorded phase in a model membrane.
Understanding the molecular interactions that lead to protein phase segregation in the membrane is a potential path to new therapies that directly target the lipid raft behavior of membrane proteins.