Search results for "Lipids"
showing 10 items of 2228 documents
Synthesis and Assembly of Wall Polymers on Regenerating Yeast Protoplasts
1983
Accumulation of chitin and glucan on S. cerevisiae and C. albicans protoplasts begins shortly after resuspension in the regeneration medium, and mannoprotein molecules also appear retained by the regenerating wall after 30–60 minutes in S. cerevisiae or after a longer lag period in C. albicans. Nevertheless, a considerable fraction of the synthesized mannoproteins, which in SDS-acrylamide gels exhibit a different pattern from that of wall mannoproteins of cells, are still released to the growth medium during at least eight hours. De novo synthesis of chitin synthase, but not of glucan synthase, is observed in S. cerevisiae from about 30 minutes after initiation of the regeneration process. …
EFFECTS OF CYCLOPROPENOID FATTY ACIDS (BAOBAB SEED OIL) ON THE FATTY ACID PROFILE OF LIPIDS FROM DIFFERENT TISSUES IN THE RAT
1996
Rats were fed for 8 weeks a diet containing either Baobab seed oil (FBO) rich in cyclopropenoid fatty acids (CPFA) or heated oil (HBO) devoid of CPFA. In FBO rats, compared to controls (CO), the monounsaturated fatty acid content of adipose tissue lipids, liver triacylglycerols, liver and adrenal cholesteryl esters and liver, kidney, adrenal phospholipids were highly decreased to the benefit of saturated fatty acid content. In cholesteryl esters and phospholipids, the arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6) content was markedly decreased, especially in adrenals. In adrenal cholesteryl esters, adrenic acid (22:4 n-6) content was decreased more than its precursor. The effects of HBO on the tissue lipid f…
Engraulis encrasicolus larvae from two different environmental spawning areas of the Central Mediterranean Sea: first data on amino acid profiles and…
2020
Early life stages of marine fish populations may be strongly affected by environmental factors. Changes in the physical environment or the availability of food resources could lead to stress-related physiological responses affecting larval fitness, growth and survival. In the present study, we determined, for the first time, amino acid composition (AAC), lipid, and carbohydrate content, as well as alkaline phosphatase and peroxidase activities in larvae from the European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus. Fishes were caught in two different spawning areas of the Strait of Sicily, characterized by different environmental conditions, including a coastal upwelling with a lower temperature (Advent…
New high-performance liquid chromatography-based methodology for monitoring the conformational transitions of self-associating hydrophobic peptides, …
1988
A new high-performance size-exclusion chromatographic strategy is reported for the analysis of the hydrophobic self-associating peptide gramicidin A, incorporated into artificial phospholipid vesicles (liposomes). The method is based on the direct injection of a few microlitres of the gramicidin A-containing liposome suspension into the column, which is eluted with a non-polar solvent, such as tetrahydrofuran. The type and amount of information which can be derived from this methodology have been evaluated. Using this chromatographic approach, a correlation has been unambiguously shown to exist between the organization of the peptide in the vesicles and a number of variables involved in the…
Effect of phosphatydylcholine on spectral properties and photostability of 3,3′-diethyloxadicarbocyanine iodide (DODCI) — a potent anti-tumor photose…
1998
Abstract The potential anti-tumor photosensitizer 3,3′-diethyloxadicarbocyanine iodide (DODCI) has been immobilized in dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) vesicles. Binding of the dicarbocyanine to the lipid vesicles induces several changes in the electronic absorption, emission and excitation spectra of the dye. The monomeric dye molecules exist in at least two forms when immobilized in the DMPC liposomes and the non-luminescing H-aggregates of the dye show efficient excitation energy transfer to the DODCI monomers. Entrapment of the dye in the liposomes generally decreases the photostability of DODCI. While emission from singlet oxygen (1O2) has not been recorded, indirect results sugg…
The chemistry of death--Adipocere degradation in modern graveyards.
2015
The formation of adipocere slows further decomposition and preserves corpses for decades or even centuries. This resistance to degradation is a serious problem, especially with regard to the reuse of graves after regular resting times. We present results from an exhumation series in modern graveyards where coffins from water-saturated earth graves contained adipocere embedded in black humic material after resting times of about 30 years. Based on the assumption that this humic material resulted from in situ degradation of adipocere, its presence contradicts the commonly held opinion that adipocere decomposition only occurs under aerobic conditions. To test our hypothesis, we collected black…
Proteins and enzymes of the peroxisomal membrane in mammals.
1993
Proteins of the peroxisomal membrane can be schematically divided into two groups, one being made up of more or less characterized proteins with generally unknown functions and the other consisting of enzyme activities of which the corresponding proteins have not been characterized. In the present report, these proteins and enzymes are described with the addition of unpublished results regarding their induction by peroxisome proliferators at the post-transcriptional level. Integral membrane proteins (IMPs) can be isolated using an alkaline solution of sodium carbonate. A dozen of preponderant IMPs can be seen on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the major band c…
Chitin: A Structural Biopolysaccharide
2009
Chitin is a naturally occurring fibre-forming polymer that plays a protective role in many lower eukaryotes similar to that of cellulose in plants. Chemically it is a long-chain unbranched polysaccharide made of N-acetylglucosamine residues; it is the second most abundant organic compound in nature, after cellulose. Taking into account the structural role played by chitin, its metabolism (synthesis and degradation) is essential for different morphogenetic events. Absent in vertebrates and plants, chitin represents a parasite-specific target for chemotherapeutic attack and also plays a role in host immune responses. Because of its abundance in nature and its properties, biotechnological appl…
Self-Assembling of Peptide/Membrane Complexes by Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Simulations
2007
Abstract Model biological membranes consisting of peptide/lipid-bilayer complexes can nowadays be studied by classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations at atomic detail. In most cases, the simulation starts with an assumed state of a peptide in a preformed bilayer, from which equilibrium configurations are difficult to obtain due to a relatively slow molecular diffusion. As an alternative, we propose an extension of reported work on the self-organization of unordered lipids into bilayers, consisting of including a peptide molecule in the initial random configuration to obtain a membrane-bound peptide simultaneous to the formation of the lipid bilayer. This strategy takes advantage of the…
Molecular characterization of α,β-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)-dl-aspartamide derivatives as potential self-assembling copolymers forming polymeric micelles
2003
A family of graft copolymers derivatives obtained from α,β-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)-dl-aspartamide (PHEA) have been studied as potential self-assembling macromolecules forming stable polymeric micelles at low critical micellar concentration. These polymers are obtained grafting on PHEA poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) (Mw 5000 g/mol) (PHEA–PEG), hexadecylamine (PHEA–C16) or both moieties (PHEA–PEG–C16). The PHEA derivatives were characterised by a multi-angle light scattering (MALS) photometer on line to a size exclusion chromatography system in obtaining the molar mass distribution of the polymers. In addition, to investigate the capacity to form micellar aggregates in aqueous medium the MALS pho…