Lipid rafts glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor

Much of the plasma membrane cholesterol is removed by incubating cells with P-methylcyclodextrin for several hours. Cells remain viable after this treatment but the raft fraction is reduced and it is inferred that the depleted proteins are normally associated with cholesterol-dependent lipid rafts. Some, but not all, glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins are recovered in the fractions defined by this procedure. 

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