Intimal sterol synthesis was examined in isolated human arterial segments obtained at surgery or at postmortem examination. The tissues were incubated with acetate-1-(14)C and mevalonate-2-(14)C and the incorporation of these precursors into sterols was determined. Intimal sterols were isolated by multiple chromatographic techniques and purified by bromination and oxidation procedures. The resu...

Balance between cell growth and proliferation determines cell size homeostasis, but little is known about how metabolic pathways are involved in the maintenance of this balance. Here, we perform a screen with a library of clinically used drug molecules for their effects on cell size. We find that statins, inhibitors of the mevalonate pathway, reduce cell proliferation and increase cell size and...

Isoprenoids (also referred to as terpenoids) are the largest group of natural products, comprising over 25,000 known compounds [1]. Each member of this class is assembled from 5-carbon (C5) isoprene units and derived metabolically from the basic building block isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and its isomer, dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP). Subsequent metabolic reactions (such as cyclization...

The biosynthetic origin of isopentenyl diphosphate in the polyisoprenoid biosynthesis of the rubber-producing plant Eucommia ulmoides Oliver was elucidated for the first time by feeding experiments using 13C-labeled isotopomers of (RS)-mevalonate, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-3,4,5-triacetate, 2C-methyl-D-erythritol-1,2,3,4-tetraacetate, and pyruvate. After 13C-labeled isotopomers were fed to the young s...

The polyisoprenoid alcohols (dolichols and polyprenols) are found in all living organism, from bacteria to mammals. In animal and yeast cells polyisoprenoids are derived from the cytoplasmic mevalonate (MVA) pathway while in plants two biosynthetic pathways, the MVA and the plastidial methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway provide precursors for polyisoprenoid biosynthesis. The key enzymes of...

The role of p53 in the biology of mammary epithelial stem cells (SC) is well established. p53 may counteract SC expansion by several mechanisms, including restriction of self-renewing divisions and block of reprogramming of somatic/ progenitor cells into SCs. p53 regulates the polarity of cell division in mammary SCs. p53 is often inactivated by loss or mutation in breast cancer. This inactivat...

BACKGROUND Abnormalities of the mevalonate pathway, an important cellular metabolic pathway, are common in many diseases including cardiovascular disease. The mevalonate pathway related enzyme expressions in pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy and associated diastolic dysfunction remains largely unknown. This study aims to investigate whether the expression of mevalonate pathway relat...

During the transformation of chloroplasts to chromoplasts in Capsicum annuum L., the permeability of the envelope membranes to possible precursors of carotenoid biosynthesis (acetate, mevalonate, citrate) was tested. The plastids were isolated by gel filtration, and the uptake of labeled compounds was measured by a filtering centrifugation technique, using silicone oil. The different ripening s...

As a common mutation trait in plants, leaf colour is related to the degree of chlorophyll and anthocyanin changes destruction chloroplast structure. This study summarizes latest research progress mechanism, including metabolic basis plant mutation, caused by gene metabolism pathway, blocked development, controlled key transcription factors non-coding RNAs, environmental factors, due involvement...

Mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase (MVD) is an ATP-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the phosphorylation/decarboxylation of (R)-mevalonate-5-diphosphate to isopentenyl pyrophosphate in the mevalonate (MVA) pathway. MVD is a key enzyme in engineered metabolic pathways for bioproduction of isobutene, since it catalyzes the conversion of 3-hydroxyisovalerate (3-HIV) to isobutene, an important plat...