Search results for "Membrane Composition"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
Oro-gustatory perception of dietary lipids and calcium signaling in taste bud cells are altered in nutritionally obesity-prone Psammomys obesus.
2013
Since the increasing prevalence of obesity is one of the major health problems of the modern era, understanding the mechanisms of oro-gustatory detection of dietary fat is critical for the prevention and treatment of obesity. We have conducted the present study on Psammomys obesus, the rodent desert gerbil which is a unique polygenic natural animal model of obesity. Our results show that obese animals exhibit a strong preference for lipid solutions in a two-bottle test. Interestingly, the expression of CD36, a lipido-receptor, in taste buds cells (TBC), isolated from circumvallate papillae, was decreased at mRNA level, but remained unaltered at protein level, in obese animals. We further st…
Exploration of lipid metabolism in relation with plasma membrane properties of Duchenne muscular dystrophy cells: influence of L-carnitine.
2012
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) arises as a consequence of mutations in the dystrophin gene. Dystrophin is a membrane-spanning protein that connects the cytoskeleton and the basal lamina. The most distinctive features of DMD are a progressive muscular dystrophy, a myofiber degeneration with fibrosis and metabolic alterations such as fatty infiltration, however, little is known on lipid metabolism changes arising in Duchenne patient cells. Our goal was to identify metabolic changes occurring in Duchenne patient cells especially in terms of L-carnitine homeostasis, fatty acid metabolism both at the mitochondrial and peroxisomal level and the consequences on the membrane structure and functi…
How to Bridge the Gap Between Membrane Biology and Polymer Science
1986
Can polymer chemists contribute to the understanding or even mimicking of cell membrane functions and cell-cell interactions? Fascinated by the specificity and efficiency of, for example, the destruction of tumor cells by lymphocytes (1) and having in mind what biochemical analyses tell us about membrane composition, we may try to “synthesize” membrane and cell models. The commonly used model systems, such as planar lipid monolayers at the gas-water interface, bimolecular lipid membranes and spherical liposomes, are much less stable than natural membrane systems (Figure 1).