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Sphingolipids, including gangliosides, and cholesterolmake up lipid rafts, which are functional membrane microdomains. Highly organised and densely packed lipid molecules define these locations. Several investigations have discovered that lipid rafts play a role in the life cycles of several viruses, includingcoronaviruses.

Lipid rafts are specialised membrane domains with high cholesterol, sphingomyelin, and ganglioside concentrations. They're also high in saturated fatty acyl chains, which are found in phospholipids.

Lipid rafts regulateneurotransmission and receptor trafficking by influencing membrane fluidity and membrane protein trafficking. Lipid rafts are more organised and firmly packed than the surrounding bilayer, although they float freely within it.