Membrane Crossing and Membranotropic Activity of Cell-Penetrating Peptides: Dangerous Liaisons?

ConspectusLiving organisms have to maintain a stable balance in molecules and ions in the changing environment in which they are living, a process known as homeostasis. At the level of cells, the plasma membrane has a major role in homeostasis, since this hydrophobic film prevents passive diffusion of large and hydrophilic molecules between the extracellular and intracellular milieu. Living organisms have evolved with highly sophisticated transport systems to control exchanges across this barrier: import of nutrients and fuel essential for their survival; recognition of chemical or physical messengers allowing information interchanges with surrounding cells. Besides specialized proteins, endocytosis mechanisms at the level of the lipid bilayer can transport molecules from the outside across the cell membrane, in an energy-dependent manner.The cell membrane is highly heterogeneous in its molecular composition (tens of different lipids, proteins, polysaccharides, and combinations of these) and dynamic with ...