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World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2011; 17(20): 2520-2535
Published online May 28, 2011. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v17.i20.2520
Role of lipid rafts in liver health and disease
Angela Dolganiuc
Angela Dolganiuc, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, United States
Author contributions: Dolganiuc A solely contributed to this paper.
Supported by Grant AA016571 from NIAAA
Correspondence to: Angela Dolganiuc, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 364 Plantation Street, LRB-270-H, Worcester, MA 01605, United States. angela.dolganiuc@umassmed.edu
Telephone: +1-508-8565955 Fax: +1-508-8565303
Received: January 6, 2011
Revised: February 24, 2011
Accepted: March 3, 2011
Published online: May 28, 2011
Abstract

Liver diseases are an increasingly common cause of morbidity and mortality; new approaches for investigation of mechanisms of liver diseases and identification of therapeutic targets are emergent. Lipid rafts (LRs) are specialized domains of cellular membranes that are enriched in saturated lipids; they are small, mobile, and are key components of cellular architecture, protein partition to cellular membranes, and signaling events. LRs have been identified in the membranes of all liver cells, parenchymal and non-parenchymal; more importantly, LRs are active participants in multiple physiological and pathological conditions in individual types of liver cells. This article aims to review experimental-based evidence with regard to LRs in the liver, from the perspective of the liver as a whole organ composed of a multitude of cell types. We have gathered up-to-date information related to the role of LRs in individual types of liver cells, in liver health and diseases, and identified the possibilities of LR-dependent therapeutic targets in liver diseases.

Keywords: Hepatocytes; Stellate cells; Kupffer cells; Endothelial cells; Signaling; Therapeutic; Viral; Hepatitis C virus; Metabolism