Quantifying Membrane Asymmetry

Plasma membrane phospholipid asymmetry.

Extending Noether's theorem by quantifying the asymmetry of quantum states.

Noether's theorem is a fundamental result in physics stating that every symmetry of the dynamics implies a conservation law. It is, however, deficient in several respects: for one, it is not applicable to dynamics wherein the system interacts with an environment; furthermore, even in the case where the system is isolated, if the quantum state is mixed then the Noether conservation laws do not c...

Protein asymmetry in chick synaptosomal plasma membrane.

The topographical arrangement of chick synaptosomal plasma membrane polypeptides was examined by lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination and trypsin digestion of proteins exposed at the exterior surface. The ““I-labeling profile on sucrose gradients of lysed, subfractionated synaptosomes generally coincided with the activity of the membrane marker (Na+-K+)-activated ATPase, which suggested that la...

How membrane asymmetry regulates ADAM17 sheddase function

Asymmetrical distribution of lipids in the cell membrane is a fundamental feature of all eukaryotic cells. The most important negatively charged phospholipids phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylinositol species reside almost exclusively in the cytoplasmic leaflet, where they serve as essential co-factors for many membrane-bound enzymes including protein kinase C, phosphatase PTEN, tyrosine...

Membrane phospholipid asymmetry in human thalassemia.

Phospholipid asymmetry in the red blood cell (RBC) lipid bilayer is well maintained during the life of the cell, with phosphatidylserine (PS) virtually exclusively located in the inner monolayer. Loss of phospholipid asymmetry, and consequently exposure of PS, is thought to play an important role in red cell pathology. The anemia in the human thalassemias is caused by a combination of ineffecti...