Background: Alcohol causes fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in part by disrupting the function of the neural cell adhesion molecule L1. Alcohol inhibits L1-mediated cell–cell adhesion in diverse cell types and inhibits L1-mediated neurite outgrowth in cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs). A recent report indicates that ethanol (EtOH) induces the translocation of L1 into CGN lipid rafts and that disruption of lipid rafts prevents EtOH inhibition of L1-mediated neurite outgrowth. The same butanol–pentanol cutoff was noted for alcohol-induced translocation of L1 into lipid rafts that was reported previously for alcohol inhibition of L1 adhesion, suggesting that EtOH might inhibit L1 adhesion by shifting L1 into lipid rafts. Methods: The NIH/3T3 cell line, 2A2-L1s, is a well-characterized EtOH-sensitive clonal cell line that stably expresses human L1. Cells were treated with 25 mM EtOH, 5 μM filipin, or both. Lipid rafts were enriched in membrane fractions by preparation of detergent-resistant membrane (DRMs) fractions. Caveolin-1 was used as a marker of lipid rafts, and L1 and Src were quantified by Western blotting in lipid-raft-enriched membrane fractions and by immunohistochemistry. Results: EtOH (25 mM) increased the percentage of L1, but not Src, in 2A2-L1s membrane fractions enriched in lipid rafts. Filipin, an agent known to disrupt lipid rafts, decreased the percentage of caveolin and L1 in DRMs from 2A2-L1s cells. Filipin also blocked EtOH-induced translocation of L1 into lipid rafts from 2A2-L1s cells but did not significantly affect L1 adhesion or EtOH inhibition of L1 adhesion. Conclusions: These findings indicate that EtOH does not inhibit L1 adhesion in NIH/3T3 cells by inducing the translocation of L1 into lipid rafts
