Lipofuscin accumulates with age in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in discrete granular organelles and may contribute to age-related macular degeneration. Because previous studies suggest that lipofuscin contains protein that may impact pathogenic mechanisms, we pursued proteomics analysis of lipofuscin. The composition of RPE lipofuscin and its mechanisms of pathogenesis are poorly unders...

Lipofuscin was produced when HT29, a colon carcinoma cell line, was cultured in millimolar concentrations of xanthine and guanine but not in the presence of other bases. Using a simple assay developed to quantify the fluorescent pigment, it was found that maximum levels of lipofuscin were developed in 3 days. Methylxanthines that are not substrates of xanthine dehydrogenase, such as caffeine an...

Lipofuscin has autologous fluorescence. When an immunofluorescent stain is applied to an autopsy brain tissue specimen, it is necessary to erase the autologous fluorescence of the lipofuscin. However, in the conventional report, it was difficult to remove lipofuscin enough. We examined the autologous fluorescence removal of lipofuscin in brain tissue using various methods. The autologous fluore...

The fatty acid composition and content of total phospholipids, free fatty acids (FFA), diacylglycerols (DG), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylserine (PS), and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) were studied in lipofuscin granules of human donors in two age groups, young (less than 40 yr old) and old (more than 47 yr old), and compared with lipids of the photoreceptor rod outer segments (ROS). N...

The distribution of lipofuscin in the perikarya of Purkin je cells of vermal and hemispheric lobules has been determined quantitatively in 7 rats, 30-38 months old, by the point-counting method. On the basis of morphologically and statistically significant differences a pigmentarchitectonics of the cerebellar cortex is established. The Purkinje cells of lobule VIa (Larsell 1952) are extremely l...

Ceroid and lipofuscin are autofluorescent granules thought to be generated as a consequence of chronic oxidative stress. Because ceroid and lipofuscin are persistent in tissue, their measurement can provide a lifetime history of exposure to chronic oxidative stress. Although ceroid and lipofuscin can be measured by quantification of autofluorescent granules, current methods rely on subjective a...

AIM To investigate the effect of two ways of lipofuscin production (lipid peroxidation and glycation) on lipofuscin fluorescence characteristics and phototoxicity and to compare them with the properties of natural lipofuscin. METHODS Model lipofuscins were prepared on the basis of bovine photoreceptor outer segments (POS) with bisretinoid A2E addition. One set of samples was prepared from POS...

The present study was undertaken to explore the distribution of lipofuscin in the brain of cheirogaleids by autofluorescence and compare it to other studies of iron distribution. Aged dwarf (Cheirogaleus medius) and mouse (Microcebus murinus) lemurs provide a reliable model for the study of normal and pathological cerebral aging. Accumulation of lipofuscin, an age pigment derived by lipid perox...

The presence of the age pigment lipofuscin is associated with numerous age-related diseases. In the retina lipofuscin is located within the pigment epithelium where it is exposed to high oxygen and visible light, a prime environment for the generation of reactive oxygen species. Although we, and others, have demonstrated that retinal lipofuscin is a photoinducible generator of reactive oxygen s...

I was greatly impressed by an article recently published in Nature Methods (1), in which intracellular autofluorescence was characterized as a biomarker for epithelial cancer stem cells (CSCs). Interestingly, this epithelial CSC-specific autofluorescence was also associated with a highly invasive and chemoresistant phenotype. Riboflavin (vitamin B2) – an ABCG2-selectively transported substrate ...