The Veatch Lab website has moved If you are not redirected, please visit us at veatchlab.com Research in the Veatch Laboratory is aimed at understanding how the
physical properties of lipid and lipid mixtures influence cellular
functions that occur at the plasma membrane. Lipid bilayer membranes
containing cholesterol can support two coexisting liquid phases, called
liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered. There is evidence that the
presence of this phase transition impacts the organization and function
of plasma membrane proteins because the cell plasma membrane is poised
in the vicinity of a miscibility critical point. We are currently
exploring the physical basis of functional lateral heterogeneity in
living cell membranes using a variety of experimental and theoretical
approaches, including super-resolution fluorescence localization
microscopy, fluorescence imaging of fluctuations in isolated plasma
membrane vesicles, and Monte Carlo modeling of basic signaling
processes. |