Cholesterol-sphingomyelin interactions in cells--effects on lipid metabolism.

Abstract

Both cholesterol and sphingomyelin are important constituents of cellular plasma membranes. The molecules are chemically and functionally very different, yet they appear to be attracted to each other in the membrane compartment. It is the aim of this review to discuss how alterations in their membrane interactions may affect lipid homeostasis in cells, and to suggest a molecular explanation for their mutual affinity in membranes. Recent reviews dealing with the subcellular distribution and transport of cholesterol (Liscum and Dahl, 1992; Liscum and Faust, 1994; Liscum and Underwood, 1995), with cellular lipid traffic (van Meer, 1989;Pagano, 1990; Voelker, 1991; Allan and Kallen, 1993), with transport and metabolism of sphingomyelin (Koval and Pagano, 1991), and with the role of sphingolipids in cell signaling (Kolesnick, 1991, 1994; Hannun and Bell, 1993; Hannun, 1994), may also be of interest to the reader.