Search results for "LIPIDS"
showing 10 items of 2228 documents
How copper ions and membrane environment influence the structure of the human and chicken tandem repeats domain?
2019
Abstract Prion proteins (PrPs) from different species have the enormous ability to anchor copper ions. The N-terminal domain of human prion protein (hPrP) contains four tandem repeats of the –PHGGGWGQ– octapeptide sequence. This octarepeat domain can bind up to four Cu2+ ions. Similarly to hPrP, chicken prion protein (chPrP) is able to interact with Cu2+ through the tandem hexapeptide -HNPGYP- region (residues 53–94). In this work, we focused on the human octapeptide repeat (human Octa4, hPrP60–91) (Ac-PHGGGWGQPHGGGWGQPHGGGWGQPHGGGWGQ-NH2) and chicken hexapeptide repeat (chicken Hexa4, chPrP54–77) (Ac-HNPGYPHNPGYPHNPGYPHNPGYP-NH2) prion protein fragments. Due to the fact that PrP is a membr…
Thermal stability of trimeric light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b complex (LHCIIb) in liposomes of thylakoid lipids.
2006
The major light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b complex (LHCIIb) of photosystem (PS) II functions by harvesting light energy and by limiting and balancing the energy flow directed towards the PSI and PSII reaction centers. The complex is predominantly trimeric; however, the monomeric form may play a role in one or several of the regulatory functions of LHCIIb. In this work the dissociation temperature was measured of trimeric LHCIIb isolated from Pisum thylakoids and inserted into liposomes made of various combinations of thylakoid lipids at various protein densities. Dissociation was measured by monitoring a trimer-specific circular dichroism signal in the visible range. The LHCIIb density in t…
Conformational transitions of gramicidin A in phospholipid model membranes. A high-performance liquid chromatography assessment.
1991
We have investigated the conformation of gramicidin A reconstituted in different phospholipid environments, small unilamellar vesicles, extensive bilayers, and micelles by exploiting a recently proposed experimental approach based on high-performance liquid chromatography [Bano et al. (1988) J. Chromatogr. 458, 105; Bano et al. (1989) FEBS Lett. 250, 67]. The method allows the separation of conformational species of the peptide namely, antiparallel double-stranded (APDS) dimers and β 6.3 -helical monomers, and quantitation of their proportions in the lipid environment. Various experimental parameters (e.g., nature of organic solvent, time of incubation in organic solvent, lipid-to-peptide m…
Structural characterisation of the natural membrane-bound state of melittin: a fluorescence study of a dansylated analogue
1997
Abstract The binding of a dansylated analogue of melittin (DNC–melittin) to natural membranes is described. The cytolytic peptide from honey bee venom melittin was enzymatically labelled in its glutamine-25 with the fluorescent probe monodansylcadaverine using guinea pig liver transglutaminase. The labelled peptide was characterised functionally in cytolytic assays, and spectroscopically by circular dichroism and fluorescence. The behaviour of DNC–melittin was, in all respects, indistinguishable from that of the naturally occurring peptide. We used resonance energy transfer to measure the state of aggregation of melittin on the membrane plane in synthetic and natural lipid bilayers. When bo…
Size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography in the study of the autoassociating antibiotic gramicidin A in micellar milieu.
2003
Gramicidin A (gA) is a polypeptide antibiotic which forms dimeric channels specific for monovalent cations in biological membranes. It is a polymorphic molecule that adopts several different conformations, double-stranded (ds) helical dimers (pore conformation) and single-stranded beta-helical dimers (channel conformation). This study investigated the conformational adaptability of gramicidin A when incorporated into micelles as membrane-mimetic model system. Taking advantage of our reported, versatile, size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC) strategy that allows the separation of double-stranded dimers and monomers, we have quantitatively characterized the conformat…
Impact of Hypoxia-Related Tumor Acidosis on Cytotoxicity of Different Chemotherapeutic Drugs In Vitro and In Vivo
2014
Extracellular acidosis in tumors leads to an activation of the p-glycoprotein (Pgp) drug transporter. In the present study the cytotoxicity of different chemotherapeutic drugs and its dependence on the Pgp activity during acidosis were analyzed in vitro and in vivo. Treating R3327-AT1, Pgp-positive tumor cells at pH 7.4 with daunorubicin, cisplatin or docetaxel led to marked apoptosis induction and cell death. Under acidic (pH 6.6) conditions cytotoxicity of daunorubicin or docetaxel was significantly reduced whereas cisplatin-induced cell death was almost pH-independent. Inhibiting Pgp with verapamil reversed the acidosis-induced chemoresistance against daunorubicin and docetaxel. The Pgp …
The HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor lovastatin protects cells from the antineoplastic drugs doxorubicin and etoposide
2002
Ras-homologous GTPases are involved in the regulation of genotoxic stress-induced gene expression and cell death. Since they need C-terminal isoprenylation for correct intracellular localization and function, we investigated whether depletion of cells from isopren precursor moieties using the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor lovastatin affects cellular sensitivity to DNA damaging drugs. Here we show that lovastatin renders cells highly resistant to the tumor-therapeutic compound doxorubicin. Desensitization by lovastatin was reverted by co-treatment with GGPP indicating that inhibition of protein geranylgeranylation is involved in acquired doxorubicin resistance. Lovastatin does not influence ce…
Metabolomics of the effect of AMPK activation by AICAR on human umbilical vein endothelial cells
2011
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a metabolic master switch expressed in a great number of cells and tissues. AMPK is thought to modulate the cellular response to different stresses that increase cellular AMP concentration. The adenosine analog, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR) is an AMPK activator used in many studies to assess the effects of AMPK activation on cellular metabolism and function. However, the effect of AICAR on cell metabolism reaches many different pathways and metabolites, some of which do not seem to be fully related to AMPK activation. We have now for the first time used NMR metabolomics on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) fo…
Multifunctional halloysite and hectorite catalysts for effective transformation of biomass to biodiesel
2023
Halloysite surface was modified with tetrabutylammonium iodide, and then the obtained nanomaterial was used as support for ZnO nanoparticles. After characterization, the nanomaterial was used as a catalyst for fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) production. The recyclability of the nanomaterial was also investigated, and the optimization of reaction conditions by the design of experiments approach was performed as well. In addition, the synthesized nanomaterial was tested as a catalyst for FAME production from a series of waste lipids affording biodiesel in moderate to good yields (35–95%), depending on the matrix. To fully exploit the feasibility of clay minerals as catalysts in biodiesel for…
Probes for studying cholesterol binding and cell biology.
2011
Cholesterol is a multifunctional lipid in eukaryotic cells. It regulates the physical state of the phospholipid bilayer, is crucially involved in the formation of membrane microdomains, affects the activity of many membrane proteins, and is the precursor for steroid hormones and bile acids. Thus, cholesterol plays a profound role in the physiology and pathophysiology of eukaryotic cells. The cholesterol molecule has achieved evolutionary perfection to fulfill its different functions in membrane organization. Here, we review basic approaches to explore the interaction of cholesterol with proteins, with a particular focus on the high diversity of fluorescent and photoreactive cholesterol prob…