Sphingomyelin and cholesterol can assemble into domains and segregate from other lipids in the membranes. These domains are reported to function as platforms for protein transport and signalling. Do similar domains exist in the Golgi membranes and are they required for protein secretion? We tested this hypothesis by using D-ceramide-C6 to manipulate lipid homeostasis of the Golgi membranes. Lip...

The C6 zinc cluster family of fungal regulatory proteins shares as DNA-binding motif the C6 zinc cluster, also known as the Zn(II)2Cys6 binuclear cluster. This family includes transcriptional activators like Gal4p, Leu3p, Hap1p, Put3p and Cha4p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, qutA and amdR from Aspergillus, nit4 from Neurospora and Ntf1 from Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Seventy-nine proteins were ...

The effects of medium conditioned by rat C6 glioma cells (C6-CM) on the survival, neurite formation, and catecholamine content of adrenal medullary cells in culture were investigated and compared with the effects of nerve growth factor (NGF). Adrenal medullary cells were isolated from 10-day-old rats and the proportions of surviving and neurite-extending cells were determined after 8 days in cu...

A three-dimensional model of the variable domain of the atrazine-specific Fab fragment K411B was constructed by molecular modeling using known structures of highly homologous immunoglobulins as templates. Molecular dynamic simulations and cross-reactivity data were used to predict residues responsible for the binding of the hapten 4-chloro-6-(isopropylamino)-1,3,5-triazine-2-(6-aminohexanecarbo...

Hyperpolarization of stable isotope-labeled substrates and subsequent NMR measurement of the metabolic reactions allow for direct tracking of cellular reactions in vitro and in vivo. Here, we report the hyperpolarization of (13)C6-glucose-d7 and evaluate its use as probes to observe glucose flux in cells. We measured the lifetime of the polarized signal governed by the spin-lattice relaxation t...

Dichloroacetate (DCA), a small molecule mitochondria-targeting agent, can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, showing potential therapeutic effects on brain tumors. Considering the effects of DCA on tumor cellular metabolism, penetrating across the blood-brain barrier, as well as having potential antitumor activity on brain tumors, the purpose of this study is to investigate the antitumor activi...

At low temperature, the short-chain fluorescent-labeled phospholipids, 1-myristoyl-2-[6-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl) aminocaproyl]-phosphatidylcholine (M-C6-NBD-PC) and its phosphatidylethanolamine analog, M-C6-NBD-PE, are internalized by flip across the plasma membrane of S. cerevisiae and show similar enrichment in intracellular membranes including the mitochondria and nuclear envelope...

In order to study the endocytosis of membrane lipids during the development of neuronal polarity, we examined the internalization of a short acyl chain fluorescent derivative of ganglioside GM1, N-(6-(4-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole-7-yl)-aminohexanoyl)-GM1 (C6-NBD-GM1), in hippocampal neurons cultured at low density. C6-NBD-GM1 was internalized by temperature- and energy-dependent mechanisms, an...