Sphingolipids and Membrane Domains
Group leader
Félix M. Goñi
Email
Phone
+34 946 01 2542
Address
Biofisika Institute (CSIC, EHU)
Science Park of the EHU
Barrio Sarriena s/n. 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia (Spain)
Research goal
Sphingolipids are relatively minor components of cell membranes, but the last two decades have witnessed an increased interest in these molecules, and particularly the simplest of them ceramide and sphingosine, due to (a) their proposed role in cell signalling, and (b) their unusual biophysical properties. The latter include the tendency of ceramides to form non-lamellar structures, to permeabilise bilayers, and to promote transbilayer (flip-flop) motion of lipids. These properties were discovered in our lab. More recently we have characterised the interaction of ceramide and cholesterol, and the formation of gel-phase structures containing ceramide and cholesterol that could exist in cell membranes.
Group members
Félix M. Goñi
University Professor
Jesús Sot Sanz
Research Technician
Publications
Varela YR, Aguirre CC, Iriondo MN, Ballesteros U, Collado MI, Etxaniz A, Montes LR, Goñi FM, Alonso A
Ceramide and the membrane-fusion activity of LC3/GABARAP autophagy proteins
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2025 Jul 19;82(1):283
10.1007/s00018-025-05811-9
García-Arribas AB, Alonso A, Goñi FM
The puzzle of sphingolipids and cholesterol under the atomic force microscope: bilayer thicknesses and breakthrough forces
Chem Phys Lipids. 2025 Sep;271:105527.
10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2025.105527
Sot J, Varela YR, Montes LR, Goñi FM, Alonso A
A nile red fluorescence assay for LC3 autophagy protein binding to lipid bilayers
Sci Rep. 2025 Oct 3;15(1):34571. PMID: 41044149; PMCID: PMC12494833.
10.1038/s41598-025-18016-8
Llombart P, de la Arada I, González-Ramírez EJ, Alonso A, MacDowell LG, Goñi FM
Long-term memory in lipid assemblies: Rate-independent hysteresis in the ripple-to-liquid-disordered transition of sphingomyelin bilayers
J Chem Phys. 2025 Apr 7;162(13):135101
DOI: 10.1063/5.0252051
González-Ramírez EJ, García-Arribas AB, Artetxe I, Shaw WA, Goñi FM, Alonso A, Jiménez-Rojo N
(1-Deoxy)ceramides in bilayers containing sphingomyelin and cholesterol
Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2024 Nov;243:114155
doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2024.114155
Ahyayauch H, Masserini ME, Alonso A, Goñi FM
Understanding Aβ Peptide Binding to Lipid Membranes: A Biophysical Perspective
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jun 10;25(12):6401
doi: 10.3390/ijms25126401
Ahyayauch H, Masserini ME, Goñi FM, Alonso A
The Influence of Lipid Electric Charge on the Binding of Aβ(1-42) Amyloid Peptide to Bilayers in the Liquid-Ordered State.
Biomolecules. 2024 Mar 1;14(3):298.
doi: 10.3390/biom14030298
Font-Mateu J, Sanllehí P, Sot J, Abad B, Mateos N, Torreno-Pina JA, Ferrari R, Wright RHG, Garcia-Parajo MF, Joglar J, Goñi FM, Beato M
A progesterone derivative linked to a stable phospholipid activates breast cancer cell response without leaving the cell membrane
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2024 Feb 22;81(1):98
doi: 10.1007/s00018-024-05116-3
Ballesteros, U.; González-Ramirez, E.J.; de la Arada, I.; Sot, J.; Etxaniz, A.; Goñi, F.M.; Alonso, A.; Montes, L.R.
Effects of a N-maleimide-derivatized Phosphatidylethanolamine on the Architecture and Properties of Lipid Bilayers
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 16570
doi: 10.3390/ijms242316570
Gómez-Fernández JC, Goñi FM
The Myth of The Annular Lipids
Biomedicines. 2022 Oct 22;10(11):2672
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10112672
Goñi FM
Sphingomyelin: What is it good for?
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2022 Dec 10;633:23-25
doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2022.08.074
González-Ramírez EJ, Etxaniz A, Alonso A, Goñi FM
Phase behaviour of C18-N-acyl sphingolipids, the prevalent species in human brain
Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2022 Nov;219:112855
doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2022.112855
Monasterio BG, Jiménez-Rojo N, García-Arribas AB, Riezman H, Goñi FM, Alonso A.
CHO/LY-B cell growth under limiting sphingolipid supply: Correlation between lipid composition and biophysical properties of sphingolipid-restricted cell membranes.
FASEB J. 2021 Jun;35(6):e21657.
DOI: 10.1096/fj.202001879RR
González-Ramírez EJ, García-Arribas AB, Sot J, Goñi FM, Alonso A
C24:0 and C24:1 sphingolipids in cholesterol-containing, five- and six-component lipid membranes.
Sci Rep. 2020 Aug 24;10(1):14085.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71008-8
Ahyayauch H, García-Arribas AB, Masserini ME, Pantano S, Goñi FM, Alonso A
β-Amyloid (1-42) peptide adsorbs but does not insert into ganglioside-containing phospholipid membranes in the liquid-disordered state: modelling and experimental studies.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2020 Dec 1;164:2651-2658.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.08.165
Siavashi R, Phaterpekar T, Leung SSW, Alonso A, Goñi FM, Thewalt JL
Lamellar Phases Composed of Phospholipid, Cholesterol, and Ceramide, as Studied by 2H NMR.
Biophys J. 2019 Jul 23;117(2):296-306.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2019.05.027
González-Ramírez EJ, Artetxe I, García-Arribas AB, Goñi FM, Alonso A
Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Bilayers of Ternary Lipid Compositions Containing Equimolar Ceramide and Cholesterol.
Langmuir. 2019 Apr 16;35(15):5305-5315.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.9b00324
Goñi FM
"Rafts": A nickname for putative transient nanodomains.
Chem Phys Lipids. 2019 Jan;218:34-39.
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2018.11.006
Manni MM, Sot J, Arretxe E, Gil-Redondo R, Falcón-Pérez JM, Balgoma D, Alonso C, Goñi FM, Alonso A
The fatty acids of sphingomyelins and ceramides in mammalian tissues and cultured cells: Biophysical and physiological implications.
Chem Phys Lipids. 2018 Dec;217:29-34.
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2018.09.010
Fanani ML, Busto JV, Sot J, Abad JL, Fabrías G, Saiz L, Vilar JMG, Goñi FM, Maggio B, Alonso A
Clearly Detectable, Kinetically Restricted Solid-Solid Phase Transition in cis-Ceramide Monolayers.
Langmuir. 2018 Oct 2;34(39):11749-11758.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b02198
Arsov Z, González-Ramírez EJ, Goñi FM, Tristram-Nagle S, Nagle JF
Phase behavior of palmitoyl and egg sphingomyelin.
Chem Phys Lipids. 2018 Jul;213:102-110.
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2018.03.003
Alonso A, Goñi FM
The Physical Properties of Ceramides in Membranes.
Annu Rev Biophys. 2018 May 20;47:633-654.
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biophys-070317-033309. 2.