The properties of the liposome membrane as a reaction field were investigated by focusing on the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction as a case study. Use of the liposomes existing in the gel phase resulted in the enhanced activity of the substrates and furnished the products with same E/Z stereoselectivity as in the liposome-free system. The membrane environment in the gel phase most likely assisted the formation of adducts that induced selective generation of the E-isomer. The possible role of liposomes is to assist the proton removal from the reactant, rather than providing the basic interfacial environment.

Membrane contact sites between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria function as a central hub for the exchange of phospholipids and calcium. The yeast Endoplasmic Reticulum-Mitochondrion Encounter Structure (ERMES) complex is composed of five subunits that tether the ER and mitochondria. Three ERMES subunits (i.e., Mdm12, Mmm1, and Mdm34) contain the synaptotagmin-like mitochondrial lipid-binding protein (SMP) domain. The SMP domain belongs to the tubular lipid-binding protein (TULIP) superfamily, which consists of ubiquitous lipid scavenging and transfer proteins. Herein, we describe the methods for expression and purification of recombinant Mdm12, a bona fide SMP-containing protein, together with the subsequent identification of its bound phospholipids by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and the characterization of its lipid exchange and transfer functions using lipid displacement and liposome flotation in vitro assays with liposomes as model biological membranes. These methods can be applied to the study and characterization of novel lipid-binding and lipid-transfer proteins.

The monoclonal gammopathies are a group of plasma-cell proliferative disorders characterized by the secretion of monoclonal immunoglobulin (M protein or paraprotein). Some rare cases have revealed the specific affinity of paraprotein as autoantibody. Here we report a patient with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) accompanied by a remarkable increase of anticardiolipin antibody (aCL) and an extensively decreased coagulation factor activity, however, without any clinical signs of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and bleeding.
Our further investigation indicated that IgMκ paraprotein of this patient possessed an antibody activity against phospholipids so as to bind to cardiolipin and interfere with coagulation assay in vitro.
This case might be indicative that an abnormality of coagulation tests, disturbed by IgMκ paraprotein, does not predict a risk of bleeding in this patient.