To determine the mechanism by which the (n-3) fatty acids (FA) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) decrease proliferation and induce apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells, we examined the effects of EPA and DHA on the lipid composition of lipid rafts as well as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) raft localization and phosphorylation. (n-3) FA (a combinati...

Lipid rafts (LRs) are dynamic, sterol- and sphingolipid-enriched nanodomains involved in the regulation of cellular functions and signal transduction, that upon stimuli, via (e.g. association of raft proteins and lipids), may cluster into domains of submicron or micron scale. Up to date, however, lipid raft clusters were observed only under artificially promoted conditions and their formation i...

The Sf9 cell line, derived from the moth Spodoptera frugiperda, is highly and specifically sensitive to the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1C toxin. Upon exposure to Cry1C, ionic pores are formed in the plasma membrane leading to cell swelling and death. Here, we describe a unique transient tolerance to Cry1C of dividing cells, which allowed completion of the division process in the presence of Cry1...

Efflux of excess cellular cholesterol mediated by lipid-poor apolipoproteins occurs by an active mechanism distinct from passive diffusion and is controlled by the ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCA1. Here we examined whether ABCA1-mediated lipid efflux involves the selective removal of lipids associated with membrane rafts, plasma membrane domains enriched in cholesterol and sphingomyelin. ...

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked membrane protein with no cytosolic domain that localizes to lipid raft microdomains. Our laboratory and others have documented that lung fibroblasts from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) exhibit a hypermotile phenotype. This study was undertaken to elucidate the molecular mechanism...

BACKGROUND A genetic knock-in mouse model expressing the R192Q mutation of the α1-subunit of the Ca(V)2.1 channels frequently found in patients with familial hemiplegic migraine shows functional upregulation of ATP-sensitive P2X3 receptors of trigeminal sensory neurons that transduce nociceptive inputs to the brainstem. In an attempt to understand the basic mechanisms linked to the upregulation...

1 Chronic opioid agonist-induced adenylyl cyclase superactivation is dependent on receptor localized within lipid rafts and is independent on receptor internalization.

Cryptococcus neoformans is a neurotropic fungal pathogen, which provokes the onset of devastating meningoencephalitis. We used human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC) as the in vitro model to investigate how C. neoformans traverses across the blood-brain barrier. In this study, we present several lines of evidence indicating that C. neoformans invasion is mediated through the endocy...

In the present study, we investigated the role of membrane cholesterol in the function of glutamate transporters. Depletion of membrane cholesterol by methyl-beta-cyclodextrin resulted in reduced Na(+)-dependent glutamate uptake in primary cortical cultures. Glial glutamate transporter EAAT2-mediated uptake was more sensitive to this effect. Cell surface biotinylation and immunostaining experim...