Viruses, lipid rafts and signal transduction

Abstract

Lipid rafts are defined as highly dynamic microdomains in cellular membranes that are enriched in sphingolipids, cholesterol and raft-targeted proteins. This particular lipid and protein composition is thought to facilitate protein-protein interactions to create microdomains with distinct biological properties. Lipid rafts have been implicated in central cellular processes such as signal transduction and protein trafficking. This review focuses on strategies used by three viral pathogens (measles virus, Epstein-Barr virus and human immunodeficiency virus) to manipulate their target cells by altering the signal transduction properties of such cellular microdomains in the infected host.