Sphingolipid biosynthesis in man and microbes

Of microbes, mice and man.

This chapter reviews my 18 years of research in Anne's Unit including studies on temporal and spatial aspects of X-chromosome inactivation and imprinting and the role of methylation in X-inactivation in these processes during female mouse embryo development. To enable molecular studies of embryos, we developed a plethora of single cell assays for specific enzyme activity, gene mutation and meth...

Microbes, molecules, maladies and man.

Nitrate biosynthesis in man.

Nitrate metabolism was investigated in long-term metabolic studies in healthy young men. Under conditions of constant low ingestion of nitrate (less than 180 mumol/day per subject), the amount of nitrate excreted in urine was an average of 4-fold greater than the amount ingested. Balance studies with 15NO3- showed that the source of the excess nitrate in urine was the endogenous biosynthesis of...

The nutrition of microbes and man.

The human gastrointestinal tract is estimated to contain about l O I 4 micro-organisms, most of them in the colon. These outnumber the host’s own body cells. Considering their vast potential metabolic activity, it is inconceivable that the microbial flora will not interact extensively with man’s diet and affect body metabolism significantly. Yet relatively few micro-organisms have been studied ...

Organization and functions of sphingolipid biosynthesis in yeast.

Sphingolipids are important signalling molecules and thus it is very important to understand how they are generated. Sphingolipid biosynthesis shows a conserved compartmentalization in eukaryotic cells. Their synthesis begins in the endoplasmic reticulum and is completed in the Golgi apparatus. We now know quite a bit about the topology of the reactions in the pathway, but certain critical step...