Membrane regulation of the stress response from prokaryotic models to mammalian cells.

"Membrane regulation" of stress responses in various systems is widely studied. In poikilotherms, membrane rigidification could be the first reaction to cold perception: reducing membrane fluidity of membranes at physiological temperatures is coupled with enhanced cold inducibility of a number of genes, including desaturases (see J.L. Harwood's article in this Proceedings volume). A similar role of changes in membrane physical state in heat (oxidative stress, etc.) sensing- and signaling gained support recently from prokaryotes to mammalian cells. Stress-induced remodeling of membrane lipids could influence generation, transduction, and deactivation of stress signals, either through global effects on the fluidity of the membrane matrix, or by specific interactions of boundary (or raft) lipids with receptor proteins, lipases, ion channels, etc. Our data point to membranes not only as targets of stress, but also as sensors in activating a stress response.