Both bacteria and higher organisms alter the composition and physical properties of their membranes when grown in different temperatures. Cells adjust their plasma membrane composition to keep a certain level of lipid-mediated heterogeneity, which affects the arrangement and connections of cell surface proteins.

When plasma membranes are isolated from live cells, they go through a miscibility transition below the growth temperature. These giant plasma membrane vesicles (GPMVs) are in a single liquid form at high temperatures, but at low temperatures, they separate into two different phases, liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered.

The lipid composition of GPMVs in zebrafish cells is influenced by growth temperature. Cells grown at lower temperatures produce GPMVs with lower cholesterol levels and higher levels of polyunsaturated lipids.

Read more here: https://www.lipotype.com/lipidomics-resource-center/?q=miscibility%20transition

#lipid #lipidomics #MassSpectrometry #membrane #temperature #cholesterol