Search results for "Cholines"
showing 10 items of 241 documents
Reaction of melatonin with lipoperoxyl radicals in phospholipid bilayers.
1997
Melatonin, at 5 to 500 microM was incorporated in unilamellar soybean phosphatidylcholine (PC) liposomes, the peroxidation of which was induced by 2,2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane-hydrochloride) (AAPH), and measured as production of conjugated diene lipid hydroperoxides. Concentration as low as 5 and 10 microM were poorly effective in reducing lipid peroxidation. Melatonin at 30 to 500 microM caused short inhibition periods, increasing with, but not linearly related to concentration, with a concurrent net decrease of the propagation rate. The time course of melatonin oxidation, measured as loss of fluorescence, was studied during the AAPH-stimulated peroxidation of soybean PC liposomes, or whe…
Expressional control of the ‘constitutive’ isoforms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS I and NOS III)
1998
Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) exists in three established isoforms. NOS I (NOS1, ncNOS) was originally discovered in neurons. This enzyme and splice variants thereof have since been found in many other cells and tissues. NOS II (NOS2, iNOS) was first identified in murine macrophages, but can also be induced in many other cell types. NOS III (NOS3, ecNOS) is expressed mainly in endothelial cells. Whereas NOS II is a transcriptionally regulated enzyme, NOS I and NOS III are considered constitutively expressed proteins. However, evidence generated in recent years indicates that these two isoforms are also subject to expressional regulation. In view of the important biological functions of these …
Expression and function of the non-neuronal cholinergic system in endothelial cells
2003
Increasing evidence has shown the expression of the non-neuronal cholinergic system in endothelial cells. In the present experiments the expression of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) was investigated in human endothelial cells by anti-ChAT immunohistochemistry and anti-ChAT immunofluorescence. Positive ChAT immunoreactivity was found in cultures of human umbilical endothelial cells (HUVEC) and a human angiosarcoma cell line (HAEND). In HUVEC and HAEND choline acetyltransferase activity and small amounts of acetylcholine were also detected. Positive ChAT-immunoreactivity was demonstrated in situ in endothelial cells of the human umbilical cord. In addition, in experiments with confocal lase…
Electrically induced deformation of giant liposomes monitored by thickness shear mode resonators.
2006
Thickness shear mode resonators are capable of registering small changes in the thickness and viscoelastic properties of ultrathin films attached to their surface. It was found that it is possible to monitor the deformation of surface-bound giant liposomes by applying an electric field with small amplitudes. Changes in the apparent height of attached vesicles in the nanometer range were easily detected as a function of lipid composition. Increasing the bending modulus by adding cholesterol results in a significantly reduced deformation from 16.8 nm (5% cholesterol) down to 3.2 nm (20% cholesterol), rendering this new method a robust and sensitive tool to detect the bending elasticity of lip…
Interactions of α-tocopherol with biomembrane models: Binding to dry lecithin reversed micelles
2005
Abstract The state of α-tocopherol (Vitamin E) in solutions of dry lecithin reversed micelles dispersed in an apolar medium has been investigated as a function of the Vitamin E to surfactant molar ratio (RVE) at fixed surfactant concentration by FT-IR, 1H NMR and SAXS with the aim to emphasize the role played by anisotropic intermolecular interactions and confinement effects as driving forces of its partitioning between apolar bulk solvent and polar nanodomains and of mutual Vitamin E/reversed micelle effects. It has been found that its binding strength to reversed micelles, triggered by steric and orientational constrains, is mainly regulated by specific interactions between the hydrophili…
Specific enrichment of 2-arachidonoyl-lysophosphatidylcholine in carotid atheroma plaque from type 2 diabetic patients
2016
IF 3.942; International audience; Background and aims: Diabetic patients are at high risk of stroke and coronary artery disease. Recent data suggest that arachidonic acid metabolism is altered in diabetic conditions and that these alterations contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis. Little is known about how these alterations affect the metabolism and the proportions of different lipid species within the atherosclerotic plaque. The aim of our study was to perform a targeted lipidomic analysis of human atherosclerotic lesions, with a specific focus on PUFA-containing lipid species, to reveal differences in the fatty-acid composition of plaque in diabetic patients compared with non-diabetic…
Combination of intensive cognitive rehabilitation and donepezil therapy in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
2009
Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchEIs) are extensively used in Alzheimer's disease (AD) while reality orientation therapy (ROT) is a cognitive rehabilitation indicated for mentally deteriorated patients. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the combination of donepezil with an intensive ROT with active participation of the caregiver. Patients with AD (n=100, mean age 78.4±4.3 years) initiated treatment with donepezil, 5mg/day; 62 of them underwent a 3-week, daily ROT and physical reactivation training with the caregiver (Group A); 38 participants received only donepezil therapy (Group B). All subjects were tested for cognitive and functional abilities at baseline, at the end of the traini…
Honeybees produce millimolar concentrations of non-neuronal acetylcholine for breeding: possible adverse effects of neonicotinoids
2016
The worldwide use of neonicotinoid pesticides has caused concern on account of their involvement in the decline of bee populations, which are key pollinators in most ecosystems. Here we describe a role of non-neuronal acetylcholine (ACh) for breeding of Apis mellifera carnica and a so far unknown effect of neonicotinoids on non-target insects. Royal jelly or larval food are produced by the hypopharyngeal gland of nursing bees and contain unusually high ACh concentrations (4–8 mM). ACh is extremely well conserved in royal jelly or brood food because of the acidic pH of 4.0. This condition protects ACh from degradation thus ensuring delivery of intact ACh to larvae. Raising the pH to ≥5.5 and…
Acetylcholine overflow from isolated perfused hearts of various species in the absence of cholinesterase inhibition
1977
1. The content of acetylcholine in the tissue and effluent of isolated hearts of various birds and mammals was determined in the absence of inhibition of cholinesterase. 2. Stimulation of both vagus nerves for 15 min at 20 Hz caused marked negative chronotropic effects in all species. Spontaneous or stimulation-induced overflow of acetylcholine into the effluents was not detected in mammals. In the avian heart, the order of spontaneous overflow was: duck = chicken > pigeon, whereas the order of evoked overflow was: chicken > pigeon > duck. The acetylcholine overflow from the cat heart was below the limit of estimation (3 pmol g−1 min−1). In the chicken heart, the evoked overflow per min (28…
Mildronate enhances learning/memory and changes hippocampal protein expression in trained rats.
2013
Previously we demonstrated that mildronate [3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydrazinium) propionate dihydrate], a representative of the aza-butyrobetaine class of compounds, protects mitochondrial metabolism under conditions such as ischemia. Mildronate also acted as a neuroprotective agent in an azidothymidine-induced mouse model of neurotoxicity, as well as in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. These observations suggest that mildronate may stimulate processes involved in cell survival and change expression of proteins involved in neurogenic processes. The present study investigated the influence of mildronate on learning and memory in the passive avoidance response (PAR) test and the active condition…