Glycosphingolipids cell surface

Receptor desensitisation, initiated by phosphorylation of the receptor, can be subsequently followed by receptor internalisation via multiple methods including clathrin-coated pits and/or lipid rafts/caveolae. Clathrin-coated pits are specialized regions of the cell surface that mediates the internalisation of the most of GPCRs to endosomes. Lipid rafts are planar domains in cell membranes that are enriched in specific lipid and proteins with an high content of cholesterol and glycosphingolipid (Chini and Parenti 2004). Caveolae are flask-shaped invaginations located at or near the plasma membrane and are considered a non-planar subfamily of lipid rafts (Ferguson 2001 Chini and Parenti 2004). 

C. Role of Glycosphingolipids as Cell Surface Receptors Both B- and T-lymphocytes emerge from bone marrow into the lymphatic tissues and enter the blood... 

Alterations in Cell Surface Glycosphingolipids and Their Metabolism in Familial Hypercholesterolemic Fibroblasts... 

New insights in glycosphingolipid function glycosignaling do- 85. main, a cell surface assembly of glycosphingolipids with signal transducer molecules, involved in cell adhesion coupled with signaling. Biochemistry 1999 38 3369-3378. 86. 

Phospholipids and glycosphingolipids are amphipathic lipid constituents of membranes (Chapter 10). They play an essential role in the synthesis of plasma lipoproteins (Chapter 20) and eicosanoids (Chapter 18). They function in transduction of messages from cell surface receptors to second messengers that control cellular processes (Chapter 30) and as surfactants. Cholesterol is mainly of animal origin and is an essential constituent of biomembranes (Chapter 10). In plasma, cholesterol is associated with lipoproteins (Chapter 20). Cholesterol is a precursor of bile acids formed in the liver of steroid hormones secreted by adrenals, gonads, and placenta and 7-dehydrocholesterol of vitamin D formed in the skin. In tissues, cholesterol exists primarily in the unesterified form (e.g., brain and erythrocytes), although appreciable quantities are esterified with fatty acids in liver, skin, adrenal cortex, and plasma lipoproteins. 

Glycosphingolipids are ubiquitous components of all eukaryotic plasma cell membranes and are particularly abundant at the cell surface. GSLs and their metabolites have been shown to act as intracellular signalling molecules that... 

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