NBD-lipid Uptake Assay for Mammalian Cell Lines

All eukaryotic cells are equipped with transmembrane lipid transporters, which are key players in membrane lipid asymmetry, vesicular trafficking, and membrane fusion. The link between mutations in these transporters and disease in humans highlights their essential role in cell homeostasis. Yet, many key features of their activities, their substrate specificity, and their regulation remain to be elucidated. Here, we describe an optimized quantitative flow cytometry-based lipid uptake assay utilizing nitrobenzoxadiazolyl (NBD) fluorescent lipids to study lipid internalization in mammalian cell lines, which allows characterizing lipid transporter activities at the plasma membrane. This approach allows for a rapid analysis of large cell populations, thereby greatly reducing sampling variability. The protocol can be applied to study a wide range of mammalian cell lines, to test the impact of gene knockouts on lipid internalization at the plasma membrane, and to uncover the dynamics of lipid transport at the plasma membrane. Graphic abstract: Internalization of NBD-labeled lipids from the plasma membrane of CHO-K1 cells.