PI3K (red) is recruited (left to right) to membrane rafts (green) at the leading edge.

The plasma membrane polarizes in moving cells by reorganizing lipid rafts, according to Gómez-Moutón et al. on page 759. This polarization puts migration tools at the correct end of the cell.

The polarization of signaling molecules such as PI3K allows migrating cells to respond directionally to chemotactic signals by forming lamellipodia at the front and uropods at the rear. Gómez-Moutón et al. show that this localized signaling is a result of redistribution of plasma membrane lipid compartments that puts chemokine receptors at the front of cells. Using live migrating white blood cells, the group watched in real time as some rafts moved to the cell's leading edge, while other rafts moved to the rear.

Rafts that moved to the front contained the CCR5 chemotactic receptor. Wherever CCR5 was found,...

The Rockefeller University Press
2004
The Rockefeller University Press
2004
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