Regulation of Ion Channels by Membrane Lipids

Ion channels are embedded in the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane or intracellular organelles. Membrane lipids serve as the barrier for ion movement and as a passive environment for ion channels. Annular lipids weakly interact with the transmembrane regions of channels and other membrane proteins, and they are in rapid exchange with bulk membrane lipids. Nonannular lipids, on the other hand, bind strongly and specifically to, or are buried in the transmembrane regions of membrane proteins. Both annular and nonannular lipids can be found in many recently determined cryo-EM and crystal structures of ion channels. This chapter provides an overview of the functional effects of the key components of the plasma membrane and some of their derivatives on ion channels.