Phospholipid flip-flop is required for bilayer assembly and the maintenance of biogenic (self-synthesizing) membranes such as the eukaryotic endoplasmic reticulum and the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane. Due to the membrane topology of phospholipid biosynthesis, newly synthesized phospholipids are initially located in the cytoplasmic leaflet of biogenic membranes and must be translocated to the ...

The accumulation of lipids within the arterial intima represents an important feature in the development of the atherosclerotic lesion. Although much interest has been centered on the relationship between blood lipid levels and atherosclerosis, limited information is available in inan concerning the intimal metabolism of lipids and its possible role in lipid accumulation within the vessel wall....

L UPUS ANTICOAGULANTS, and “antiphospholipid” autoantibodies in general, are of considerable clinical importance because of their strong association with thrombosis, recurrent fetal loss, and thrombocytopenia, ie, the “antiphospholipid” antibody syndrome.’ This review focuses on recent evidence that “antiphospholipid” autoantibodies are not directed against anionic phospholipids, as has previou...

The molecular basis of the membranolytic activity of the membrane attack complex (MAC) of complement was investigated. By using density gradient equilibrium ultracentrifugation, the binding of egg yolk lecithin to the isolated MAC and to its intermediate complexes and precursor proteins was measured. No stable phospholipid--protein complexes were formed with the MAC precursor components C5b--6,...

The normal neurohypophysis is hyperintense relative to brain and adenohypophysis on T1-weighted MR images, but the signal is not chemically shifted with respect to water. The source of the hyperintense MR signal in the normal neurohypophysis has been the subject of recent controversy. To date, an adequate biophysical explanation for the unusual imaging properties of the neurohypophysis has not ...

The antiphospholipid syndrome is a thrombophilic condition marked by antibodies that recognize anionic phospholipid-protein cofactor complexes. We recently reported that exposure to IgG fractions from antiphospholipid patients reduces the level of annexin-V, a phospholipid-binding anticoagulant protein, on cultured trophoblasts and endothelial cells and accelerates coagulation of plasma exposed...

The 41-residue synthetic ovine corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF; corticoliberin) has been shown to stimulate release of corticotropin (adrenocorticotropic hormone; ACTH) and beta-endorphin from AtT-20/D16-16 mouse pituitary tumor cells. Phospholipid methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine to phosphatidylcholine with S-adenosylmethionine as methyl donor has been suggested as a possible membra...

Our goal was to elucidate the pathway of newly synthesized phospholipid into the growing neurite. This was accomplished in pulse-chase studies with the phospholipid precursor [3H]glycerol, using sprouting explant cultures of rat superior cervical ganglion as an experimental system. After the pulse with the precursor and various chase periods, we separated perikarya and neurites microsurgically ...

A surface sediment from Carteau cove, located at the western part of the Gulf of Fos (France), was collected and analysed to determine the lipid composition of its most polar fraction. Analyses by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) of the polar fraction of the sediment extract revealed the presence of phospholipids (PL), with mainly phosphatidylgly...

We report here experiments on how lupus anticoagulant antibodies (LA IgG) that react with prothrombin bind to surface phospholipid and affect prothrombin's affinity for surface phospholipid and activation to thrombin. LA IgG was purified by protein A chromatography from the plasma of 16 patients of whom four had associated hypoprothrombinemia and 10 had experienced thrombosis. Many LA IgG bound...