Analysis of lipid-composition changes in plasma membrane microdomains

Sphingolipids accumulate in plasma membrane microdomain sites, such as caveolae or lipid rafts. Such microdomains are considered to be important nexuses for signal transduction, although changes in the microdomain lipid components brought about by signaling are poorly understood. Here, we applied a cationic colloidal silica bead method to analyze plasma membrane lipids from monolayer cells cultured in a 10 cm dish. The detergent-resistant fraction from the silica bead-coated membrane was analyzed by LC-MS/MS to evaluate the microdomain lipids. This method revealed that glycosphingolipids composed the microdomains as a substitute for sphingomyelin (SM) in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (tMEFs) from an SM synthase 1/2 double KO (DKO) mouse. The rate of formation of the detergent-resistant region was unchanged compared with that of WT-tMEFs. C2-ceramide (Cer) stimulation caused greater elevations in diacylglycerol and phosphatidic acid levels than in Cer levels within the microdomains of WT-tMEFs. We also found that lipid changes in the microdomains of SM-deficient DKO-tMEFs caused by serum stimulation occurred in the same manner as that of WT-tMEFs. This practical method for analyzing membrane lipids will facilitate future comprehensive analyses of membrane micro-domain-associated responses.