We have already discussed on Monday that it is rather challenging (yet not impossible) to detect, identify and quantify hundreds of lipid species in the plasma membranes of living cells. However, there is an additional level of complexity: the symmetry of plasma membrane leaflets.
In 2020 a group of international researchers published their findings about the lipidomes and biophysical properties of both monolayers in living mammalian plasma membranes.
Turns out, that phospholipid unsaturation is dramatically asymmetric, with the cytoplasmic leaflet having more unsaturated lipids than the exoplasmic leaflet. Moreover, lipidome and proteome structural asymmetries are conserved throughout Eukaryota, suggesting fundamental cellular design principles.
Find out more here:
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