Molecular Mechanisms of Raft Organization in Biological Membranes

This review analyzes and summarizes some actual models of raft organization as dynamic structural units in lipid membranes emphasizing the discrimination between mechanisms influencing raft nanodomain formation and maintenance in biological and model membranes on one hand and the roles of membrane proteins on the other. The contentious issue of specific input of cholesterol recognizing/interacting amino acid consensus (CRAC) motifs in the membrane rafts and protein interaction mechanism at the molecular level is discussed in detail. Especially, lipid membrane raft-like structure of some enveloped viruses is considered as a manifest example demonstrating the basic organization of raft-type membranes.