Methods to analyze the palmitoylated CD95 high molecular weight death-inducing signaling complex.

ABSTRACT

Major work elucidating the structure and function of the CD95 death inducing signaling complex (DISC) was carried in the late 1990s. Since then the DISC has become a paradigm for multiprotein signaling complexes in the apoptosis literature. We analyzed the earliest events of DISC formation with a set of different techniques and found a surprising new characteristic of the CD95 DISC. Data revealed that CD95 is palmitoylated on cysteine 199. This lipid modification enhances receptor aggregation to the high molecular weight DISC.