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Review
. 2021 Jul 21:9:673917.
doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.673917. eCollection 2021.

Potential Role of Plasmalogens in the Modulation of Biomembrane Morphology

Zakaria A Almsherqi  1
Affiliations
Review

Potential Role of Plasmalogens in the Modulation of Biomembrane Morphology

Zakaria A Almsherqi. Front Cell Dev Biol. .

Abstract

Plasmalogens are a subclass of cell membrane glycerophospholipids that typically include vinyl- ether bond at the sn-1 position and polyunsaturated fatty acid at the sn-2 position. They are highly abundant in the neuronal, immune, and cardiovascular cell membranes. Despite the abundance of plasmalogens in a plethora of cells, tissues, and organs, the role of plasmalogens remains unclear. Plasmalogens are required for the proper function of integral membrane proteins, lipid rafts, cell signaling, and differentiation. More importantly, plasmalogens play a crucial role in the cell as an endogenous antioxidant that protects the cell membrane components such as phospholipids, unsaturated fatty acids, and lipoproteins from oxidative stress. The incorporation of vinyl-ether linked with alkyl chains in phospholipids alter the physicochemical properties (e.g., the hydrophilicity of the headgroup), packing density, and conformational order of the phospholipids within the biomembranes. Thus, plasmalogens play a significant role in determining the physical and chemical properties of the biomembrane such as its fluidity, thickness, and lateral pressure of the biomembrane. Insights on the important structural and functional properties of plasmalogens may help us to understand the molecular mechanism of membrane transformation, vesicle formation, and vesicular fusion, especially at the synaptic vesicles where plasmalogens are rich and essential for neuronal function. Although many aspects of plasmalogen phospholipid involvement in membrane transformation identified through in vitro experiments and membrane mimic systems, remain to be confirmed in vivo, the compiled data show many intriguing properties of vinyl-ether bonded lipids that may play a significant role in the structural and morphological changes of the biomembranes. In this review, we present the current limited knowledge of the emerging potential role of plasmalogens as a modulator of the biomembrane morphology.

Keywords: biomembranes; cubic membranes; dynamic system; membrane morphological changes; plasmalogen.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The handling editor declared a shared membership in a society with the author at time of review.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Structure of ether-linked membrane lipids differing in the sn1 linkage. (A) Alkyl chain linked to sn1 position via an ether-linkage (plasmanyl ethanolamine) and (B) Alkyl group linked to sn1 position via a vinyl ether linkage (plasmenyl ethanolamine). The general structure of (C) plasmanyl and (D) plasmenyl phospholipid species.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(A) Schematic diagram depicting a model of continuous membrane folding represents the formation of double diamond (D) and gyroid (G) cubic type, hexagonal and lamellar structures (L), and whorls (W) membrane organizations. Cubic membrane organizations have been reported to be rich in plasmalogens. (B) Transmission electron microscopy images of cubic membranes transformation of the mitochondria in amoeba Chaos cells under starvation stress condition and (C) Liposomes generated from the lipids extracted from amoeba Chaos, typically display cubic and hexagonal phase organization. (A,C) reprinted from Almsherqi et al. (2009) with permission.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Schematic diagram depicting the effect of food supplements on the mitochondria membrane morphological transformation in amoeba Chaos.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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