Fatty acids (FAs) and sterols represent the most important fraction of edible oils and fats, which play a significant role in human nutrition and health. A gas chromatographic method for the identification and quantification of FAs and sterols based on the extraction of lipids by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), saponification of the obtained extract, and direct determination of the isolat...

Sterol biosynthesis is a crucial pathway in eukaryotes leading to the production of cholesterol in animals and various C24-alkyl sterols (ergostane-based sterols) in fungi, plants, and trypanosomatid protozoa. Sterols are important membrane components and precursors for the synthesis of powerful bioactive molecules, including steroid hormones in mammals. Their functions in pathogenic protozoa a...

The composition and abundance of phytoplankton is an important factor defining ecological status of marine and freshwater ecosystems. Chemotaxonomic markers (e.g., pigments and fatty acids) are needed for monitoring changes in a phytoplankton community and to know the nutritional quality of seston for herbivorous zooplankton. Here we investigated the suitability of sterols along with fatty acid...

Sterols are essential factors for endocytosis in animals and yeast. To investigate the sterol structural requirements for yeast endocytosis, we created a variety of ergDelta mutants, each accumulating a distinct set of sterols different from ergosterol. Mutant erg2Deltaerg6Delta and erg3Deltaerg6Delta cells exhibit a strong internalization defect of the alpha-factor receptor (Ste2p). Specific s...

A detailed study was made of methyl sterols involved in cholesterol biosynthesis in adult brain following intracerebral injection of [ZJ4C]mevalonic acid and incubation of this cholesterol precursor with adult brain cell-free preparations. High specific activity lanosterol, 4,4-dimethyl-&-cholestaS(9)-24-dien-3P-01, 4a-methyl-5a-cholesta-‘7,24-dien-3/3-o1, and Sa-cholesta-7,24-dien-3/?-ol were ...

Unicellular picocyanobacteria, such as species of the genus Synechococcus, are unsuitable for supporting growth and reproduction of Daphnia spp. In Synechococcus spp., long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and sterols are absent, which leads to a low carbon transfer efficiency at the picocyanobacteria–Daphnia spp. interface. Herein, we address the question as to whether ciliates can se...

The existence of sphingolipid- and sterol-enriched microdomains, known as lipid rafts, in the plasma membrane (PM) of eukaryotic cells is well documented. To obtain more insight into the lipid molecular species required for the formation of microdomains in plants, we have isolated detergent (Triton X-100)-resistant membranes (DRMs) from the PM of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and leek (All...

Sterols inhibit their own synthesis in mammalian cells by blocking the vesicular endoplasmic reticulum-to-Golgi transport of sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) cleavage-activating protein (SCAP), a sterol-sensing protein that escorts SREBPs. Unable to reach the Golgi, SREBPs are not processed by Golgi-resident proteases, and they fail to activate genes required for cholesterol sy...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the consumption level of plant sterols naturally occurring in diet on the lipid profile in obese women with dyslipidemia. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study population was primarily comprised of 120 obese women aged over 55 from Poland, with twenty seven subjects dropping out of the study due to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. ...

The high sterol concentration in eukaryotic cell membranes is thought to influence membrane properties such as permeability, fluidity and microdomain formation. Drosophila cannot synthesize sterols, but do require them for development. Does this simply reflect a requirement for sterols in steroid hormone biosynthesis, or is bulk membrane sterol also essential in Drosophila? If the latter is tru...