The helix-loop-helix transcription factor Olig2 is essential for lineage determination of oligodendrocytes. Differentiation of stem cells into oligodendrocytes and transplanting them is a novel strategy for the repair of different demyelination diseases. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are of great interest in regenerative medicine due to their potential for repairing damaged tissues. In this st...

Because of their high cost, lysolecithins are generally not considered useful detergents for the purification of membrane-bound enzymes. Therefore, we have synthesized a structural analog of lysolecithin with similar physical properties for which synthesis is straightforward. This analog is 1-palmitoylpropanediol-3-phosphocholine. To compare the efficacy of the two detergents for the purificati...

Plasma membrane (PM) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) enriched fractions were isolated from the homogenized rat kidney. Transmission electron micrographs of PM showed empty vesicles but no granules present in the fraction. Kallikrein activity was detected in the homogenate, microsomal, and PM and ER fractions; it was most enriched in PM fraction. PM-kallikrein released a klnin, cleaved the peptid...

CHOLESTEROL IS THE MAIN COMPONENT of human gallstones. It is held in solution in bile by mixed micelles of lecithin and bile salts [l]. Presence of both lecithin and bile salts are ersential for the solubilization of cholesterol in bile [2]. Normal human gallbladder bile is almost saturated with cholesterol [3]. Therefore, a small change in lecithin concentration might disturb the micellar solu...

Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) are the principal source of new myelin in the central nervous system. A better understanding of how they mature into myelin-forming cells is of high relevance for remyelination. It has recently been demonstrated that during developmental myelination, the DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), but not DNMT3A, is critical for regulating proliferation and differen...

The introduction of a new antigenic determinant, 2,4-dinitrophenyl-aminocaproyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (DNP-Cap-PE), into the surface membranes of intact human erythrocytes is described. Fresh cells were incubated in the presence of liposomes composed of 10% DNP-Cap-PE, 5% stearylamine, 20% lysolecithin, and 65% lecithin. Such liposome-treated erythrocytes are shown to be susceptible to immun...

1. Lysolecithin, prepared by the action of snake-venom phospholipase A on ovolecithin, when incubated with Savoy-cabbage phospholipase D, in the presence of Ca(2+) ions, gave two degradation products (designated A and B) in the form of their calcium salts. 2. These calcium salts were separated quantitatively by solvent fractionation and converted into the corresponding sodium salts. 3. Substanc...

The mechanism of methotrexate (MTX)-induced neurotoxicity was investigated using cerebellar explant cultures from fetal rats. After 3 weeks of growth, myelinated cultures were treated with MTX at 1 microM, lysolecithin at 1 mg/dl, or unaltered nutrient medium. Myelin sheaths devoid of axons were observed by histological and electron microscopic preparations after 2 weeks of MTX exposure. After ...