Membrane Microdomains as Targets for New Therapies

Dear Colleagues,

Complex amphiphilic lipids are functional components of membrane lipid domains, now known as lipid rafts. Lipid rafts are membrane portions developed by glycosphingolipids, sphingomyelin, ceramide, and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. Lipid rafts contain a few proteins, receptors, and enzymes that are strategic for the correct physiology of cells. Within glycosphingolipids, gangliosides have been found to be associated with membrane lipid rafts, which are necessary for the activity of membrane receptors and membrane enzymes working as starting switches for the transduction of information through the plasma membrane or the beginning of functional processes. Several pathologies involve gangliosides that follow genetic derailments or enzyme kinetics, changing the incorrect quantity or incorrect positions of the results. Thus, incorrect or incomplete ganglioside–protein interaction is followed by a pathological condition or impairs a physiological function. Therefore, lipid rafts represent a starting opportunity for studies that aim to develop innovative and useful drugs for new treatments of neurodegenerative disease, tumors, and lysosomal storage diseases.

Prof. Dr. Sandro Sonnino
Guest Editor

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