How Does Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Model Membranes Reflect Cell Membrane Heterogeneity?

Sych, Taras; Gurdap, Cenk Onur; Wedemann, Linda; Sezgin, Erdinc

doi:10.3390/membranes11050323

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How Does Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Model Membranes Reflect Cell Membrane Heterogeneity?

Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, 17165 Solna, Sweden

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Membranes 2021, 11(5), 323; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11050323

Submission received: 1 April 2021 / Revised: 22 April 2021 / Accepted: 26 April 2021 / Published: 28 April 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanoscale Membranes Structure and Dynamics)

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Abstract

Although liquid–liquid phase separation of cytoplasmic or nuclear components in cells has been a major focus in cell biology, it is only recently that the principle of phase separation has been a long-standing concept and extensively studied in biomembranes. Membrane phase separation has been reconstituted in simplified model systems, and its detailed physicochemical principles, including essential phase diagrams, have been extensively explored. These model membrane systems have proven very useful to study the heterogeneity in cellular membranes, however, concerns have been raised about how reliably they can represent native membranes. In this review, we will discuss how phase-separated membrane systems can mimic cellular membranes and where they fail to reflect the native cell membrane heterogeneity. We also include a few humble suggestions on which phase-separated systems should be used for certain applications, and which interpretations should be avoided to prevent unreliable conclusions.

Keywords: phase separation; liquid-ordered domains; liquid-disordered domains; GUVs; GPMVs; plasma membrane; lipid rafts; plasma membrane vesicles; SLBs

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sych, T.; Gurdap, C.O.; Wedemann, L.; Sezgin, E. How Does Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Model Membranes Reflect Cell Membrane Heterogeneity? Membranes 2021, 11, 323. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11050323

AMA Style

Sych T, Gurdap CO, Wedemann L, Sezgin E. How Does Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Model Membranes Reflect Cell Membrane Heterogeneity? Membranes. 2021; 11(5):323. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11050323

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sych, Taras, Cenk Onur Gurdap, Linda Wedemann, and Erdinc Sezgin. 2021. "How Does Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Model Membranes Reflect Cell Membrane Heterogeneity?" Membranes 11, no. 5: 323. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11050323

APA Style

Sych, T., Gurdap, C. O., Wedemann, L., & Sezgin, E. (2021). How Does Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Model Membranes Reflect Cell Membrane Heterogeneity? Membranes, 11(5), 323. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11050323

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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How Does Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Model Membranes Reflect Cell Membrane Heterogeneity?

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