Chemical control of phospholipid distribution across bilayer membranes.

Most biological membranes possess an asymmetric transbilayer distribution of phospholipids. Endogenous enzymes expend energy to maintain the arrangement by promoting the rate of phospholipid translocation, or flip-flop. Researchers have discovered ways to modify this distribution through the use of chemicals. This review presents a critical analysis of the phospholipid asymmetry data in the literature followed by a brief overview of the maintenance and physiological consequences of phospholipid asymmetry, and finishes with a list of chemical ways to alter phospholipid distribution by enhancement of flip-flop. Copyright 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev, 22, No. 3, 251-281, 2002; Published online in wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/med.10009