The effect of membrane domains on the G protein–phospholipase Cβ signaling pathway

Abstract

The plasma membrane serves as a barrier to limit the exit and entry of components into and out of the cell, offering protection from the external environment. Communication between the cell and the external environment is mediated by multiple signaling pathways. While the plasma membrane was historically viewed as a lipid bilayer with freely diffusing proteins, the last decade has shown that the lipids and proteins in the plasma membrane are organized in a non-random manner, and that this organization can direct and modify various signaling pathways in the cell. In this review, we qualitatively discuss the ways that membrane domains can affect cell signaling. We then focus on how membrane domains can affect a specific signaling pathway – the G protein–phospholipase Cβ pathway and show how membrane domains can play an active role in directing or redirecting G protein signals.

Keywords::

• lipid signaling
• lipid rafts
• caveolae
• G protein coupled receptors
• calcium signaling

Acknowledgements

While the focus of this review is narrow in scope, it touches on many general areas of biochemistry and cell biology. The authors apologize for limiting the citations to review articles or exemplary manuscripts and not having a comprehensive citation list. This work was supported by NIH R01GM053132 and P50GM071558.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Editor: Michael M. Cox