The effect of ethinyl-estradiol treatment on the lateral mobility of lipids and proteins in hepatocyte plasma membrane of male rats (FRAP studies on liver smears)

Abstract

The lateral diffusion constants of lipids (D₁) and proteins (D_p) in the plasma membranes of hepatocytes were measured in liver smears of male Fischer 344 rats, by means of the fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) method, after ethinyl-estradiol (EE) treatment of 1 or 5 days. The main finding was that EE treatment results in significant decreases in both the D₁- and the D_p-values. These observations are interpreted in terms of the role of membrane physicochemistry in functions of the hepatocytes.