scholarly journals Relation between the organization of spectrin and of membrane lipids in lymphocytes.

1988 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 697-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
B J Del Buono ◽  
P L Williamson ◽  
R A Schlegel

In lymphocytes, the cytoskeletal protein spectrin exhibits two organizational states. Because the plasma membrane lipids of lymphocytes also display two organizational states, it was asked whether there is a relation between the organization of spectrin and of membrane lipids. When mouse thymocytes were stained with merocyanine 540 (MC540), a fluorescent lipophilic probe that binds preferentially to loosely packed, disorganized lipid bilayers, some cells fluoresced brightly and some only dimly or not at all. When the same population was stained for spectrin by indirect immunofluorescence, the spectrin in some cells was uniformly distributed, while in others it was concentrated in a unipolar aggregate. Techniques enriching for mature thymocytes selected for cells displaying low MC540 fluorescence and aggregated spectrin, the same characteristics found in peripheral blood lymphocytes. Flow cytometric sorting of thymocytes based on MC540 phenotype simultaneously sorted them by spectrin phenotype. Finally, treatment with agents that alter the distribution of spectrin caused mature lymphocytes to display high MC540 fluorescence and uniform spectrin. Thus, a relation exists between the organizational states of spectrin and of membrane lipids in lymphocytes: aggregated spectrin is found in cells with tightly organized membrane lipids, uniform spectrin in those with loosely organized lipids. Spectrin may thus be involved in modulating membrane lipid organization in lymphocytes as it is in erythrocytes. Since loosely organized lipids may promote adhesion of blood cells to reticuloendothelial cells, spectrin may thereby be involved in transducing an internally generated adhesion signal to the lymphocyte surface.

1988 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 337-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie McEvoy ◽  
Robert A. Schlegel ◽  
Patrick Williamson ◽  
Brian J. Del Buono

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hironori Tsuchiya ◽  
Maki Mizogami

Despite a long history in medical and dental application, the molecular mechanism and precise site of action are still arguable for local anesthetics. Their effects are considered to be induced by acting on functional proteins, on membrane lipids, or on both. Local anesthetics primarily interact with sodium channels embedded in cell membranes to reduce the excitability of nerve cells and cardiomyocytes or produce a malfunction of the cardiovascular system. However, the membrane protein-interacting theory cannot explain all of the pharmacological and toxicological features of local anesthetics. The administered drug molecules must diffuse through the lipid barriers of nerve sheaths and penetrate into or across the lipid bilayers of cell membranes to reach the acting site on transmembrane proteins. Amphiphilic local anesthetics interact hydrophobically and electrostatically with lipid bilayers and modify their physicochemical property, with the direct inhibition of membrane functions, and with the resultant alteration of the membrane lipid environments surrounding transmembrane proteins and the subsequent protein conformational change, leading to the inhibition of channel functions. We review recent studies on the interaction of local anesthetics with biomembranes consisting of phospholipids and cholesterol. Understanding the membrane interactivity of local anesthetics would provide novel insights into their anesthetic and cardiotoxic effects.


Author(s):  
E.A. Dawidowicz

Membrane biogenesis is an essential feature of cellular development and growth. The initial assembly of membrane lipids and proteins occurs primarily in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). It has been demonstrated that the enzymes involved in the de novo biosynthesis of phospholipids are exclusively located on the cytoplasmic surface of the ER. A rapid transbilayer movement of phospholipids has also been reported in isolated liver microsomes, which is compatible with the movement of newly synthesized lipids to the lumenal surface of the ER. Comparison with the transbilayer movement of phospholipids across protein-free lipid bilayers, has lead to the proposal that a protein which would catalyze the translocation of phospholipids across the ER membrane (“flipase”), might be involved in the assembly of the lipid bilayer of the ER. Since the various membranes in a eukaryotic cell differ markedly in their lipid composition, it is clear that specific sorting and transport of these membrane components must occur.


1997 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonid V. Chernomordik ◽  
Eugenia Leikina ◽  
Vadim Frolov ◽  
Peter Bronk ◽  
Joshua Zimmerberg

While the specificity and timing of membrane fusion in diverse physiological reactions, including virus–cell fusion, is determined by proteins, fusion always involves the merger of membrane lipid bilayers. We have isolated a lipid-dependent stage of cell–cell fusion mediated by influenza hemagglutinin and triggered by cell exposure to mildly acidic pH. This stage preceded actual membrane merger and fusion pore formation but was subsequent to a low pH–induced change in hemagglutinin conformation that is required for fusion. A low pH conformation of hemagglutinin was required to achieve this lipid-dependent stage and also, downstream of it, to drive fusion to completion. The lower the pH of the medium applied to trigger fusion and, thus, the more hemagglutinin molecules activated, the less profound was the dependence of fusion on lipids. Membrane-incorporated lipids affected fusion in a manner that correlated with their dynamic molecular shape, a characteristic that determines a lipid monolayer's propensity to bend in different directions. The lipid sensitivity of this stage, i.e., inhibition of fusion by inverted cone–shaped lysophosphatidylcholine and promotion by cone-shaped oleic acid, was consistent with the stalk hypothesis of fusion, suggesting that fusion proteins begin membrane merger by promoting the formation of a bent, lipid-involving, stalk intermediate.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yucan Dai ◽  
Haiqing Tang ◽  
Shanshan Pang

Phospholipids are major membrane lipids that consist of lipid bilayers. This basic cellular structure acts as a barrier to protect the cell against various environmental insults and more importantly, enables multiple cellular processes to occur in subcellular compartments. Numerous studies have linked the complexity of membrane lipids to signal transductions, organelle functions, as well as physiological processes, and human diseases. Recently, crucial roles for membrane lipids in the aging process are beginning to emerge. In this study, we summarized current advances in our understanding of the relationship between membrane lipids and aging with an emphasis on phospholipid species. We surveyed how major phospholipid species change with age in different organisms and tissues, and some common patterns of membrane lipid change during aging were proposed. Further, the functions of different phospholipid molecules in regulating healthspan and lifespan, as well as their potential mechanisms of action, were also discussed.


Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (11) ◽  
pp. 2407-2420 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.M. Gadella ◽  
R.A. Harrison

A flow cytometric procedure was used to follow the effect of bicarbonate, a key inducer of sperm capacitation in vitro, on the transbilayer behavior of C6NBD-phospholipids in the plasma membrane of living acrosome-intact boar spermatozoa under physiological conditions. In the absence of bicarbonate, 97% of C6NBD-phosphatidylserine and 78% of C6NBD-phosphatidylethanolamine was rapidly translocated from the outer leaflet to the inner, whereas relatively little C6NBD-phosphatidylcholine and C6NBD-sphingomyelin was translocated (15% and 5%, respectively). Inclusion of 15 mM bicarbonate/5%CO(2) markedly slowed down the rates of translocation of the aminophospholipids without altering their final distribution, whereas it increased the proportions of C6NBD-phosphatidylcholine and C6NBD-sphingomyelin translocated (30% and 20%, respectively). Bicarbonate activated very markedly the outward translocation of all four phospholipid classes. The changes in C6NBD-phospholipid behavior were accompanied by increased membrane lipid disorder as detected by merocyanine 540, and also by increased potential for phospholipase catabolism of the C6NBD-phospholipid probes. All three changes were mediated via a cAMP-dependent protein phosphorylation pathway. We suspect that the changes result from an activation of the non- specific bidirectional translocase ('scramblase'). They have important implications with respect to sperm fertilizing function.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 2174
Author(s):  
Liang Lin ◽  
Junchao Ma ◽  
Qin Ai ◽  
Hugh W. Pritchard ◽  
Weiqi Li ◽  
...  

Plant species conservation through cryopreservation using plant vitrification solutions (PVS) is based in empiricism and the mechanisms that confer cell integrity are not well understood. Using ESI-MS/MS analysis and quantification, we generated 12 comparative lipidomics datasets for membranes of embryogenic cells (ECs) of Magnolia officinalis during cryogenic treatments. Each step of the complex PVS-based cryoprotocol had a profoundly different impact on membrane lipid composition. Loading treatment (osmoprotection) remodeled the cell membrane by lipid turnover, between increased phosphatidic acid (PA) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) and decreased phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). The PA increase likely serves as an intermediate for adjustments in lipid metabolism to desiccation stress. Following PVS treatment, lipid levels increased, including PC and PE, and this effectively counteracted the potential for massive loss of lipid species when cryopreservation was implemented in the absence of cryoprotection. The present detailed cryobiotechnology findings suggest that the remodeling of membrane lipids and attenuation of lipid degradation are critical for the successful use of PVS. As lipid metabolism and composition varies with species, these new insights provide a framework for technology development for the preservation of other species at increasing risk of extinction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 514
Author(s):  
Mariangela Dionysopoulou ◽  
George Diallinas

Recent biochemical and biophysical evidence have established that membrane lipids, namely phospholipids, sphingolipids and sterols, are critical for the function of eukaryotic plasma membrane transporters. Here, we study the effect of selected membrane lipid biosynthesis mutations and of the ergosterol-related antifungal itraconazole on the subcellular localization, stability and transport kinetics of two well-studied purine transporters, UapA and AzgA, in Aspergillus nidulans. We show that genetic reduction in biosynthesis of ergosterol, sphingolipids or phosphoinositides arrest A. nidulans growth after germling formation, but solely blocks in early steps of ergosterol (Erg11) or sphingolipid (BasA) synthesis have a negative effect on plasma membrane (PM) localization and stability of transporters before growth arrest. Surprisingly, the fraction of UapA or AzgA that reaches the PM in lipid biosynthesis mutants is shown to conserve normal apparent transport kinetics. We further show that turnover of UapA, which is the transporter mostly sensitive to membrane lipid content modification, occurs during its trafficking and by enhanced endocytosis, and is partly dependent on autophagy and Hect-type HulARsp5 ubiquitination. Our results point out that the role of specific membrane lipids on transporter biogenesis and function in vivo is complex, combinatorial and transporter-dependent.


Blood ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 601-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
CA Pugsley ◽  
IJ Forbes ◽  
AA Morley

Abstract The immunology of chronic hypoplastic marrow failure (CHMF, aplastic anemia) was studied in an experimental murine model of the disease induced by busulfan. B lymphocytes of peripheral blood, spleen, and bone marrow were reduced to 30%–40% and T lymphocytes of thymus, spleen, marrow, and blood were decreased to 20%–70% of control values. IgG and IgM antibody titer to sheep red blood cells were reduced to one- third of control levels, and splenic IgG, but not IgM, plaque-forming cells were fewer on day 7 after antigen stimulation. The proliferative responses to phytohemagglutinin or concanavalin A were reduced in cultures of peripheral blood lymphocytes, splenic lymphocytes, and thymocytes, and cutaneous delayed-type hypersensitivity induced by dinitrofluorobenze was not detected in mice with CHMF. The results demonstrate disturbance of a variety of cellular and humoral functions and suggest that the disturbance was due to quantitative and possibly qualitative abnormalities of the cell types subserving these functions. The results suggest that residual cell injury, the lesion underlying experimental CHMF, is not confined to the myeloid stem cell but also involved cells of the lymphoid series.


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