Search results for "phospholipid"
showing 10 items of 422 documents
Chemical, biochemical and microbial diversity through a Pachic Humudept profile in a temperate upland grassland
2013
There is great interest in understanding the factors that drive soil microbial activity and community composition in upland grassland ecosystems. We investigated the role of vertical gradients of chemical properties and various soluble C and N pools on soil microbial community structure by using a combination of chemical and biochemical methods coupled with PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) community fingerprinting and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiling. Soil samples were collected at increasing depth from a temperate upland grassland. Soil organic matter-related pools (total organic C and total Kjeldahl N) and functionally related active pools (microbial biomass C an…
PEGYLATED PHOSPHOLIPID-POLYASPARTAMIDE COPOLYMERS AS SELF-ASSEMBLING COLLOIDAL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS
2009
Changes in soil microbial community structure influenced by agricultural management practices in a mediterranean agro-ecosystem.
2013
Agricultural practices have proven to be unsuitable in many cases, causing considerable reductions in soil quality. Land management practices can provide solutions to this problem and contribute to get a sustainable agriculture model. The main objective of this work was to assess the effect of different agricultural management practices on soil microbial community structure (evaluated as abundance of phospholipid fatty acids, PLFA). Five different treatments were selected, based on the most common practices used by farmers in the study area (eastern Spain): residual herbicides, tillage, tillage with oats and oats straw mulching; these agricultural practices were evaluated against an abandon…
Soil profile dismantlement by land levelling and deep tillage damages soil functioning but not quality
2016
We investigated the effects of land levelling followed by deep tillage, thus inducing a drastic dismantlement of soil profile, on both soil functioning and quality by monitoring various bioindicators (microbial biomass and community structure, basal respiration, enzyme activities) expressed on either whole soil and TOC mass units, respectively. As expected, in disturbed soils all measured properties had much higher coefficients of variation (CVs), regardless of either whole soil or TOC mass basis, due to the induced spatial variability. The amount of total organic C in the first cubic meter of soil profile was of one order of magnitude greater in undisturbed soils compared to disturbed ones…
Polymer-based materials modified with magnetite nanoparticles for enrichment of phospholipids
2018
[EN] A polymeric material modified with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) has been synthesized and evaluated as sorbent both for solid-phase extraction (SPE) and dispersive magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) of phospholipids (PLs) in human milk samples. The synthesized sorbent was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and its iron content was also determined. Several experimental variables that affect the extraction performance (e.g. loading solvent, breakthrough volume and loading capacity) were investigated and a comparison between conventional SPE and MSPE modalities was done. The proposed method was satisfactorily applied to the analysis of PLs in human milk fat extracts in diff…
Identification and quantification of phosphatidylcholines containing very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid in bovine and human retina using liqu…
2010
The retina is one of the vertebrate tissues with the highest content in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). A large proportion of retinal phospholipids, especially those found in photoreceptor membranes, are dipolyunsaturated molecular species. Among them, dipolyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine (PC) molecular species are known to contain very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFA) from the n-3 and n-6 series having 24-36 carbon atoms (C24-C36) and four to six double bonds. Recent interest in the role played by VLC-PUFA arose from the findings that a protein called elongation of very-long-chain fatty acids 4 (ELOVL4) is involved in their biosynthesis and that mutations in the ELOVL…
ABC A-subclass proteins: Gatekeepers of cellular phospho- and sphingolipid transport
2007
During the past years, available evidence suggests that members of a novel family of structurally highly related multispan proteins, designated ABC A-subclass transporters, exert critical functions in the control of cellular lipid transport processes. Loss-of-function scenarios, thus far, have revealed pivotal roles of individual ABC A-transporters in specialized lipid secretory pathways of the cell including HDL biogenesis (ABCA1), lung surfactant production (ABCA3), retinal integrity (ABCA4/ABCR) and skin lipid barrier formation (ABCA12). Although the specific transporter activities of many members of this novel protein family have not yet been established in detail, available evidence in…
Investigation of Temperature-Induced Phase Transitions in DOPC and DPPC Phospholipid Bilayers Using Temperature-Controlled Scanning Force Microscopy
2004
Under physiological conditions, multicomponent biological membranes undergo structural changes which help define how the membrane functions. An understanding of biomembrane structure-function relations can be based on knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of pure phospholipid bilayers. Here, we have investigated phase transitions in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) bilayers. We demonstrated the existence of several phase transitions in DPPC and DOPC mica-supported bilayers by both atomic force microscopy imaging and force measurements. Supported DPPC bilayers show a broad L(beta)-L(alpha) transition. In addition to the main transition …
X-ray diffraction of a protein crystal anchored at the air/water interface
1995
We report the first successful in situ x-ray diffraction experiment with a 2D protein array at the lipid/water interface and demonstrate that the order can be controlled via lateral pressure or density. A protein (streptavidin) was bound to a monolayer of biotinylated lipid at the air/water interface, and diffraction of the protein layer could be measured to many orders. Compression of the monolayer changed the diffraction pattern drastically, indicating that the protein structure can be strongly influenced by external parameters like lateral pressure or density. From the width of the peaks, we find that aggregates consisting of as few as 100 monomers contribute to the diffraction. This ind…
Formation of protein multilayers and their competitive replacement based on self-assembled biotinylated phospholipids.
1994
Based on specific recognition processes the build-up of protein multilayers was achieved using streptavidin layers as a docking matrix. For this purpose, streptavidin was organized at biotin-containing monolayers, liposomes, and self-assembled layers on gold. Thus, mixed double and triple layers of streptavidin, Con A, Fab fragments, and hormones were prepared and characterized by fluorescence microscopy and plasmon spectroscopy. Using biotin analogues with lower binding constants several cycles of multilayer formation followed by competitive replacement could be achieved.