Phosphatidylinositol transfer proteins and functional specification of lipid signaling pools

The diversity of lipid species in biological membranes testifies to the multiple roles of these molecules as structural units, precursors to second messengers, as scaffolding units that impose spatial and temporal regulation on assembly of proteins, and as regulators of the catalytic activities of proteins. Such diverse lipid functions must be appropriately coordinated so that these can be specifically and appropriately coupled to dedicated biological processes. Evidence from multiple sources is building towards a concept where Sec14-like PITPs are specific components of lipid metabolic nanoreactors and, in this capacity, help impose a functional specification of lipid signaling pools.