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Science 2 July 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5680, pp. 71 - 73
DOI: 10.1126/science.1099791
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Reports

Mass Spectrometric Imaging of Highly Curved Membranes During Tetrahymena Mating

Sara G. Ostrowski,1 Craig T. Van Bell,2 Nicholas Winograd,1 Andrew G. Ewing1,3

Biological membrane fusion is crucial to numerous cellular events, including sexual reproduction and exocytosis. Here, mass spectrometry images demonstrate that the low-curvature lipid phosphatidylcholine is diminished in the membrane regions between fusing Tetrahymena, where a multitude of highly curved fusion pores exist. Additionally, mass spectra and principal component analysis indicate that the fusion region contains elevated amounts of 2-aminoethylphosphonolipid, a high-curvature lipid. This evidence suggests that biological fusion involves and might in fact be driven by a heterogeneous redistribution of lipids at the fusion site.

1 Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
2 Department of Biology and Health Services, Edinboro University, Edinboro, PA 16444, USA.
3 Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 17033, USA.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Plasma Membrane Fluidity Affects Transient Immobilization of Oxidized Phospholipids in Endocytotic Sites for Subsequent Uptake.
S. Rhode, R. Grurl, M. Brameshuber, A. Hermetter, and G. J. Schutz (2009)
J. Biol. Chem. 284, 2258-2265
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Lipid mapping in human dystrophic muscle by cluster-time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging.
N. Tahallah, A. Brunelle, S. De La Porte, and O. Laprevote (2008)
J. Lipid Res. 49, 438-454
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Phase separation of lipid membranes analyzed with high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry..
M. L. Kraft, P. K. Weber, M. L. Longo, I. D. Hutcheon, and S. G. Boxer (2006)
Science 313, 1948-1951
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