Cell membranes cradle, protect, and gatekeep living cells. Membranes can even affect how a cell behaves. But membranes' own erratic behavior has puzzled scientists for years. Turns out, it's all about ...

Lipid density has been shown to be the defining factor in membrane flexibility, potentially opening new avenues in synthetic biology. Research into membrane behavior has revealed that how tightly ...

Scientists have long known that cellular membranes vary in thickness, but measuring those differences inside actual cells has ...

Tsukuba, Japan—Cells contain diverse populations of molecules called lipids, which are organic fatty compounds. Lipid metabolism, the synthesis and breakdown of these lipids, plays key roles in ...

A multidisciplinary team has uncovered a key mechanism that allows the human bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae—responsible for ...

Lipids are fatty compounds that perform a range of essential functions in the body. Phospholipids, steroids, and triglycerides are examples of lipids. Although lipids play an essential role in the ...

Within the family of cell membrane lipids known as phosphoinositides and the kinase enzymes that regulate them, phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) have been cast in a starring role as scientists study ...

A shift in the balance between two lipids – cholesterol and sphingomyelin – makes hybrid epithelial-mesenchymal cancer cells less responsive to certain chemotherapy drugs.

A by-product of rice bran oil production has long been recognized as a source of beneficial lipids for skin health and ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. The bottom of the ocean is cold, dark, and under extreme pressure. It is not a place suited to the physiology of us surface dwellers: At ...