Author/Editor		Koklič, Tilen; Pirš, Mateja; Zeisig, Reiner; Abramović, Zrinka; Šentjurc, Marjeta
Title		Membrane switch hypothesis. 1. Cell density influences lateral domain structure of tumor cell membranes
Type		članek
Source		J Chem Inf Model
Vol. and No.		Letnik 45
Publication year		2005
Volume		str. 1701-7
Language		eng
Abstract		The domain structure of human cancer cells membranes was investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in different phases of cell growth, and the results were compared to those obtained for nonmalignant cells. On the basis of computer simulation of the EPR spectra using a newly developed GHOST condensation routine it was suggested that plasma membranes of cancer cells have less lateral lipid domain types at confluent conditions than in the exponential growing phase, while in nonmalignant cells the domain structure does not change significantly during cell growth. In accordance to our experimental data we propose a membrane switch hypothesis: disappearance of certain membrane domain types might act as a switch promoting the clustering of membrane constituents into the active units in a common lipid membrane domain and thus influencing the physiology of cells.