The Exploration of Cellular Functions of Lipids Achieved by Using the Photoswichable Lipids

The research related to lipidome analysis helped people understand the roles of lipids in biochemistry. Lipids are not only the components of membranes or sources of energy storage, they are also regarded as the participants in signaling cascades and transmembrane protein modulation. The requirements for the methods and techniques used to explore the cellular functions of lipids has been increased during the study.

The methods used to explore the cellular functions of lipids include the manipulation of lipid pools through chemical dimerizers and optogenic methods, as well as the applications of caged lipids equipped with a photo-labile protection group that prevents the lipids from biological activity until a flash or light releases the active lipid. The manipulation of lipid pools is a slow process, normally restricted to soluble lipid-metabolic enzymes or transfer proteins. Caged lipids are highly targeted. However, the release of the active lipids is not a reversible process. To address the problem, researchers used azobenzene containing lipids as photoswitchable lipids. By using lipids with an azobenzene moiety, the activation speed of caged lipids can be increased, and the optical stimuli can be translated into a reversible cellualr response. Recently, the method has already been used to activate Vanilloid Receptor 1 and other protein-lipid interactions which are related to the control of biological functions.

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