Lipids are precisely distributed in cell membranes, along with associated proteins defining organelle identity. Because the major cellular lipid factory is the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a key issue is to understand how various lipids are subsequently delivered to other compartments by vesicular and non-vesicular transport pathways. Efforts are currently made to decipher how lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) work either across long distances or confined to membrane contact sites (MCSs) where two organelles are at close proximity. Recent findings reveal that proteins of the oxysterol-binding protein related-proteins (ORP)/oxysterol-binding homology (Osh) family are not all just sterol transporters/sensors: some can bind either phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PtdIns(4)P) and sterol or PtdIns(4)P and phosphatidylserine (PS), exchange these lipids between membranes, and thereby use phosphoinositide metabolism to create cellular lipid gradients. Lipid exchange is likely a widespread mechanism also utilized by other LTPs to efficiently trade lipids between organelle membranes. Finally, the discovery of more proteins bearing a lipid-binding module (SMP or START-like domain) raises new questions on how lipids are conveyed in cells and how the activities of different LTPs are coordinated.
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Cover Image
Endoplasmic reticulumendosome contact sites. This pseudo-colored electron microscopy image shows the formation of inter-organelle membrane contact sites between late endosomes (magenta) and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER; green). This tethering results from the interaction between two ER-anchored proteins (VAP-A and VAP-B) and the late endosomeanchored protein STARD3NL. Mitochondria: brown; nucleus: blue. For further details see pp. 493-498. Image kindly provided by Fabien Alpy. - PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of Contents
Review Article|
April 11 2016
New molecular mechanisms of inter-organelle lipid transport
Guillaume Drin;
Guillaume Drin
1
*Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire & Cellulaire, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis and CNRS, 660 route des lucioles, 06560 Valbonne, France
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email drin@ipmc.cnrs.fr).
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Joachim Moser von Filseck;
Joachim Moser von Filseck
†Biochemistry Department, University of Geneva, Science II, Quai Ernest-Ansermet 30, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
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Alenka Čopič
Alenka Čopič
‡Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, UMR 7592, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, F-75013 Paris, France
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
December 16 2015
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2016 Authors; published by Portland Press Limited
2016
Biochem Soc Trans (2016) 44 (2): 486–492.
Article history
Received:
December 16 2015
Citation
Guillaume Drin, Joachim Moser von Filseck, Alenka Čopič; New molecular mechanisms of inter-organelle lipid transport. Biochem Soc Trans 15 April 2016; 44 (2): 486–492. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20150265
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