Search results for "Lipid raft"
showing 10 items of 65 documents
Role of membrane dynamics processes and exogenous molecules in cellular resveratrol uptake: consequences in bioavailability and activities.
2011
In the fields of nutrition prevention and therapy treatment, numerous studies have reported interesting properties of trans-resveratrol (RSV), a natural polyphenol against pathologies such as vascular diseases, cancers, viral infections and neurodegenerative processes. These beneficial effects are supported by more studies showing the pleiotropic actions of RSV. Nevertheless, a crucial question concerning these effects is how the polyphenol, when applied to an organism, gains access to its targets. In this review, we focus on the biochemical and biological parameters involved in RSV transport, particularly the role of the phospholipid bilayer in RSV uptake (passive diffusion, carrier-mediat…
Human tRNA(Sec) associates with HeLa membranes, cell lipid liposomes, and synthetic lipid bilayers.
2012
We have shown previously that simple RNA structures bind pure phospholipid liposomes. However, binding of bona fide cellular RNAs under physiological ionic conditions is shown here for the first time. Human tRNASec contains a hydrophobic anticodon-loop modification: N6-isopentenyladenosine (i6A) adjacent to its anticodon. Using a highly specific double-probe hybridization assay, we show mature human tRNASec specifically retained in HeLa intermediate-density membranes. Further, isolated human tRNASec rebinds to liposomes from isolated HeLa membrane lipids, to a much greater extent than an unmodified tRNASec transcript. To better define this affinity, experiments with pure lipids show that li…
Computational Studies of Biomembrane Systems : Theoretical Considerations, Simulation Models, and Applications
2013
This chapter summarizes several approaches combining theory, simulation, and experiment that aim for a better understanding of phenomena in lipid bilayers and membrane protein systems, covering topics such as lipid rafts, membrane-mediated interactions, attraction between transmembrane proteins, and aggregation in biomembranes leading to large superstructures such as the light-harvesting complex of green plants. After a general overview of theoretical considerations and continuum theory of lipid membranes we introduce different options for simulations of biomembrane systems, addressing questions such as: What can be learned from generic models? When is it expedient to go beyond them? And, w…
Monolayer curvature stabilizes nanoscale raft domains in mixed lipid bilayers
2013
According to the lipid raft hypothesis, biological lipid membranes are laterally heterogeneous and filled with nanoscale ordered "raft" domains, which are believed to play an important role for the organization of proteins in membranes. However, the mechanisms stabilizing such small rafts are not clear, and even their existence is sometimes questioned. Here we report the observation of raft-like structures in a coarse-grained molecular model for multicomponent lipid bilayers. On small scales, our membranes demix into a liquid ordered (lo) and a liquid disordered (ld) phase. On large scales, phase separation is suppressed and gives way to a microemulsion-type state that contains nanometer si…
Lipid rafts: a signalling platform linking lipoprotein metabolism to atherogenesis.
2012
Lipid rafts are microdomains of the plasma membrane which are enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids. They serve as a platform for signal transduction, in particular during immune and inflammatory responses. As hypercholesterolemia and inflammation are two key elements of atherogenesis, it is conceivable that the cholesterol and cholesterol oxide content of lipid rafts might influence the inflammatory signalling pathways, thus modulating the development of atherosclerosis. In support of this emerging view, lipid rafts have been shown to be involved in several key steps of atherogenesis, such as the oxysterol-mediated apoptosis of vascular cells, the blunted ability of high density lipopr…
On ripples and rafts: Curvature induced nanoscale structures in lipid membranes
2014
We develop an elastic theory that predicts the spontaneous formation of nanoscale structures in lipid bilayers which locally phase separate between two phases with different spontaneous monolayer curvature. The theory rationalizes in a unified manner the observation of a variety of nanoscale structures in lipid membranes: Rippled states in one-component membranes, lipid rafts in multicomponent membranes. Furthermore, we report on recent observations of rippled states and rafts in simulations of a simple coarse-grained model for lipid bilayers, which are compatible with experimental observations and with our elastic model.
Importance of lipid microdomains, rafts, in absorption, delivery, and biological effects of resveratrol
2013
The preventive effects of the phytoalexin trans-resveratrol toward cancer have been largely described at the cellular and molecular levels in both in vivo and in vitro models; however, its primary targets are still poorly identified. In this review, we show the crucial role of cell membrane microdomains, that is, lipid rafts, not solely in the initiation of the early biochemical events triggered by resveratrol leading to cancer cell death, but also in resveratrol absorption and distribution. Resveratrol accumulates in lipid rafts and is then taken up by cells through raft-dependent endocytosis. These events allow early activation of kinase pathways and redistribution of cell death receptors…
Absence of correlation between oxysterol accumulation in lipid raft microdomains, calcium increase, and apoptosis induction on 158N murine oligodendr…
2013
There is some evidence that oxidized derivatives of cholesterol, 7-ketocholesterol (7KC) and 7β-hydroxycholesterol (7βOHC), are increased in the plasma of patients with neurodegenerative diseases associated with demyelinization of the central nervous system (CNS). It was therefore of interest to investigate the effects of these oxysterols on oligodendrocytes, the myelin-forming cells in the CNS. To this end, 158N murine oligodendrocytes were treated with 7KC or 7βOHC inducing an apoptotic mode of cell death characterized by condensation/fragmentation of the nuclei, dephosphorylation of Akt and GSK3, mitochondrial depolarization involving Mcl-1, and caspase-3 activation. In contrast, under t…
7-Ketocholesterol Incorporation into Sphingolipid/Cholesterol-enriched (Lipid Raft) Domains Is Impaired by Vitamin E
2009
Cholesterol oxides, in particular 7-ketocholesterol, are proatherogenic compounds that induce cell death in the vascular wall when localized in lipid raft domains of the cell membrane. Deleterious effects of 7-ketocholesterol can be prevented by vitamin E, but the molecular mechanism involved is unclear. In this study, unlike γ-tocopherol, the α-tocopherol vitamin E form was found to prevent 7-ketocholesterol-mediated apoptosis of A7R5 smooth muscle cells. To be operative, α-tocopherol needed to be added to the cells before 7-ketocholesterol, and its anti-apoptotic effect was reduced and even suppressed when added together or after 7-ketocholesterol, respectively. Both pre- and co-treatment…
Effects of sulindac sulfide on the membrane architecture and the activity of gamma-secretase.
2007
gamma-Secretase is a membrane-embedded multi-protein complex that catalyzes the final cut of the Alzheimer's disease-related amyloid precursor protein (APP) to amyloid-beta peptides of variable length (37-43 amino acids) via an unusual intramembrane cleavage. Recent findings propose that some commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have the ability to modulate specifically gamma-secretase activity without inhibiting the enzyme as a whole. These drugs may shift the processing of APP from the longer amyloid-beta 42 peptide towards shorter, less fibrillogenic and less toxic amyloid-beta species. We hypothesize that gamma-secretase activity, as an enzyme that is strictly as…