Metabolic labelling of membrane microdomains/rafts in Jurkat cells indicates the presence of glycerophospholipids implicated in signal transduction by the CD3 T-cell receptor.

Cell membranes contain sphingolipids and cholesterol, which cluster together in distinct domains called rafts. The outer-membrane leaflet of these peculiar membrane domains contains glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, while the inner leaflet contains proteins implicated in signalling, such as the acylated protein kinase p56(lck) and the palmitoylated adaptator LAT (linker for activation of T-cells). We present here an approach to study the lipid composition of rafts and its change upon T-cell activation.