In this study we analyzed by immunofluorescence, laser confocal microscopy, immunoelectron microscopy and label fracture technique the ganglioside distribution on the plasma membrane of several different cell types: human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), Molt-4 lymphoid cells, and NIH 3T3 fibroblasts, which mainly express monosialoganglioside GM3, and murine NS20Y neuroblastoma cells, which have been shown to express a high amount of monosialoganglioside GM2. Our observations showed an uneven distribution of both GM3 and GM2 on the plasma membrane of all cells, confirming the existence of ganglioside-enriched microdomains on the cell surface. Interestingly, in lymphoid cells the clustered immunolabeling appeared localized over both the microvillous and the nonvillous portions of the membrane. Similarly, in cells growing in monolayer, the clusters were distributed on both central and peripheral regions of the cell surface. Therefore, glycosphingolipid clusters do not appear confined to specific areas of the plasma membrane, implying general functions of these domains, which, as structural components of a cell membrane multimolecular signaling complex, may be involved in cell activation and adhesion, signal transduction and, when associated to caveolae, in endocytosis of specific molecules.
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Research Article|
June 01 1999
Glycosphingolipid Domains on Cell Plasma Membrane
Maurizio Sorice;
Maurizio Sorice
1Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161, Roma, Italy
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Tina Garofalo;
Tina Garofalo
1Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161, Roma, Italy
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Roberta Misasi;
Roberta Misasi
1Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161, Roma, Italy
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Vincenza Dolo;
Vincenza Dolo
2Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università di L'Aquila, Via Vetoio Coppito 2, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
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Giuseppe Lucania;
Giuseppe Lucania
1Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161, Roma, Italy
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Tiziana Sansolini;
Tiziana Sansolini
3Istituto Dermatologico San Gallicano, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
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Isabella Parolini;
Isabella Parolini
4Dipartimento di Ematologia, Oncologia e Virologia, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy
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Massimo Sargiacomo;
Massimo Sargiacomo
4Dipartimento di Ematologia, Oncologia e Virologia, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy
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Maria Rosaria Torrisi;
Maria Rosaria Torrisi
1Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161, Roma, Italy
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Antonio Pavan
Antonio Pavan
2Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Università di L'Aquila, Via Vetoio Coppito 2, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Online ISSN: 1573-4935
Print ISSN: 0144-8463
© 1999 Plenum Publishing Corporation
1999
Biosci Rep (1999) 19 (3): 197–208.
Citation
Maurizio Sorice, Tina Garofalo, Roberta Misasi, Vincenza Dolo, Giuseppe Lucania, Tiziana Sansolini, Isabella Parolini, Massimo Sargiacomo, Maria Rosaria Torrisi, Antonio Pavan; Glycosphingolipid Domains on Cell Plasma Membrane. Biosci Rep 1 June 1999; 19 (3): 197–208. doi: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020277820120
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