Mechanism of local anesthetic-induced disruption of raft-like ordered membrane domains.

Background: Because ordered membrane domains, called lipid rafts, regulate activation of ion channels related to the nerve pulse, lipids rafts are thought to be a possible target for anesthetic molecules. To understand the mechanism of anesthetic action, we examined influence of representative local anesthetics (LAs); dibucaine, tetracaine, and lidocaine, on raft-like liquid-ordered (L)/non-raft-like liquid-disordered (L) phase separation.

Methods: Impact of LAs on the phase separation was observed by fluorescent microscopy.