Phospholipid translocase : Its role in cytoskeletal reorganization.

分子遗传学的最新进展为研究蛋白质的生物学功能提供了强有力的工具，使我们对其功能的认识迅速扩展。然而，人们对生物膜的组织和功能知之甚少，特别是膜磷脂如何组织和参与细胞功能。这主要是因为缺乏适当的方法来操纵或跟踪膜脂质的功能。我们已经开发了各种探针来分析磷脂在生物膜中的分子运动和功能。我们的研究表明，增强的质膜磷脂的跨膜运动在介导细胞骨架蛋白和质膜之间的协调运动以实现成功的细胞分裂中起着关键作用。

Recent advances in molecular genetics have provided powerful tools for studying the biological function of proteins, resulting in rapid extension of our knowledge of their functions. However, little is still known about the organization and function of biological membranes, especially how membrane phospholipids are organized and participate in cellular functions. This is mainly because of the lack of appropriate methodologies for either manipulating or tracing the function of membrane lipids. We have developed various probes to analyze the moleculaer motion and function of phospholipids in biological membranes. Our studies have shown that enhanced transbilayr movement of plasma membrane phospholipids plays a pivotal role in mediating coordinated movement between cytoskeletal proteins and plasma membrance to achieve successful cell dividion.