Breast milk has many beneficial properties and unusual characteristics including a unique fat component, termed milk fat globule membrane (MFGM). While breast milk yields important developmental ...benefits, there are situations where it is unavailable resulting in a need for formula feeding. Most formulas do not contain MFGM, but derive their lipids from vegetable sources, which differ greatly in size and composition. Here we tested the effects of MFGM supplementation on intestinal development and the microbiome as well as its potential to protect against Clostridium difficile induced colitis. The pup-in-a-cup model was used to deliver either control or MFGM supplemented formula to rats from 5 to 15 days of age; with mother's milk (MM) reared animals used as controls. While CTL formula yielded significant deficits in intestinal development as compared to MM littermates, addition of MFGM to formula restored intestinal growth, Paneth and goblet cell numbers, and tight junction protein patterns to that of MM pups. Moreover, the gut microbiota of MFGM and MM pups displayed greater similarities than CTL, and proved protective against C. difficile toxin induced inflammation. Our study thus demonstrates that addition of MFGM to formula promotes development of the intestinal epithelium and microbiome and protects against inflammation.
•Propyl gallate kept lower activities of PLD, lipase and LOX in longan pericarp.•Propyl gallate kept higher contents of unsaturated fatty acids in longan pericarp.•Propyl gallate maintained higher ...unsaturated degree of fatty acids in longan pericarp.•Propyl gallate reduced color changes of pericarp in harvested longan fruit.•Propyl gallate-enhanced storability of longans related to membrane lipids metabolism.
Effects of propyl gallate on membrane lipids metabolism and its relation to storability of harvested longan fruits were studied. The results showed that the propyl gallate-treated longans maintained lower activities of pericarp phospholipase D (PLD), lipase and lipoxygenase (LOX) than those in control fruits. Such treatments could maintain higher levels of pericarp unsaturated fatty acids (USFAs), higher pericarp indices of unsaturated fatty acids (IUFA), and higher pericarp ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids (U/S) than those in control fruits. Furthermore, propyl gallate also delayed color changes of pericarp in the harvested longans. Therefore, the postharvest treatments of longan fruits with propyl gallate for increasing storability of longan fruits might be explained by a decrease in activities of PLD, lipase and LOX, and an the increased unsaturation of fatty acids, which could delay membrane lipids metabolism and maintain cell membrane characteristics.
Lipid rafts serve as anchoring platforms for membrane proteins. Thus far they escaped direct observation by light microscopy due to their small size. Here we used differently colored dyes as ...reporters for the registration of both ordered and disordered lipids from the two leaves of a freestanding bilayer. Photoswitchable lipids dissolved or reformed the domains. Measurements of domain mobility indicated the presence of 120 nm wide ordered and 40 nm wide disordered domains. These sizes are in line with the predicted roles of line tension and membrane undulation as driving forces for alignment.
Plant cuticle is the hydrophobic protection layer that covers aerial plant organs and plays a pivotal role during plant development and interactions of plants with the environment. The mechanical ...structure and chemical composition of cuticle lipids and other secondary metabolites vary considerably between plant species, and in response to environmental stimuli and stresses. As the cuticle plays an important role in responses of plants to major abiotic stresses such as drought and high salinity, close attention has been paid to molecular processes underlying the stress-induced biosynthesis of cuticle components. This review addresses the genetic networks responsible for cuticle formation and in particular highlights the role of transcription factors that regulate cuticle formation in response to abiotic stresses.
Biological membranes are complex and dynamic assemblies of lipids and proteins. Poikilothermic organisms including bacteria, fungi, reptiles, and fish do not control their body temperature and must ...adapt their membrane lipid composition in order to maintain membrane fluidity in the cold. This adaptive response was termed homeoviscous adaptation and has been frequently studied with a specific focus on the acyl chain composition of membrane lipids. Massspectrometry-based lipidomics can nowadays provide more comprehensive insights into the complexity of lipid remodeling during adaptive responses. Eukaryotic cells compartmentalize biochemical processes in organelles with characteristic surface properties, and the lipid composition of organelle membranes must be tightly controlled in order to maintain organelle function and identity during adaptive responses. Some highly differentiated cells such as neurons maintain unique lipid compositions with specific physicochemical properties. To date little is known about the sensory mechanisms regulating the acyl chain profile in such specialized cells or during adaptive responses. Here we summarize our current understanding of lipid metabolic networks with a specific focus on the role of physicochemical membrane properties for the regulation of the acyl chain profile during homeoviscous adaptation. By comparing the mechanisms of the bacterial membrane sensors with the prototypical eukaryotic lipid packing sensor Mga2 fromSaccharomyces cerevisiae,we identify common operational principles that might guide our search for novel membrane sensors in different organelles, organisms, and highly specialized cells.
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•Physical membrane properties and biosynthesis of membrane lipids are interdependent.•Tailored production of lipid molecules ensures membrane homeostasis.•Comparative analysis of the homeoviscous adaptation reveals common features.•Molecular lipid packing sensors use relative TMH rotations as a sensitive mechanism.
The lipid bilayer of the thylakoid membrane in plant chloroplasts and cyanobacterial cells is predominantly composed of four unique lipid classes; monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG), ...digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG), sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG). MGDG and DGDG are uncharged galactolipids that constitute the bulk of thylakoid membrane lipids and provide a lipid bilayer matrix for photosynthetic complexes as the main constituents. The glycolipid SQDG and phospholipid PG are anionic lipids with a negative charge on their head groups. SQDG and PG substitute for each other to maintain the amount of total anionic lipids in the thylakoid membrane, with PG having indispensable functions in photosynthesis. In addition to biochemical studies, extensive analyses of mutants deficient in thylakoid lipids have revealed important roles of these lipids in photosynthesis and thylakoid membrane biogenesis. Moreover, recent studies of
Arabidopsis thaliana
suggest that thylakoid lipid biosynthesis triggers the expression of photosynthesis-associated genes in both the nucleus and plastids and activates the formation of photosynthetic machineries and chloroplast development. Meanwhile, galactolipid biosynthesis is regulated in response to chloroplast functionality and lipid metabolism at transcriptional and post-translational levels. This review summarizes the roles of thylakoid lipids with their biosynthetic pathways in plants and discusses the coordinated regulation of thylakoid lipid biosynthesis with the development of photosynthetic machinery during chloroplast biogenesis.
Numerous data have been collected on lipid-binding amphipathic helices involved in membrane-remodeling machineries and vesicular transport. Here we describe how, with regard to lipid composition, the ...physicochemical features of some amphipathic helices explain their ability to recognize membrane curvature or to participate in membrane remodeling. We propose that sensing highly-curved membranes requires that the polar and hydrophobic faces of the helix do not cooperate in lipid binding. A more detailed description of the interaction between amphipathic helices and lipids is however needed; notably to explain how new helices contribute to detection of modest changes in curvature or even negative curvature.
As an approved vaccine adjuvant for use in humans, alum has vast health implications, but, as it is a crystal, questions remain regarding its mechanism. Furthermore, little is known about the target ...cells, receptors, and signaling pathways engaged by alum. Here we report that, independent of inflammasome and membrane proteins, alum binds dendritic cell (DC) plasma membrane lipids with substantial force. Subsequent lipid sorting activates an abortive phagocytic response that leads to antigen uptake. Such activated DCs, without further association with alum, show high affinity and stable binding with CD4(+) T cells via the adhesion molecules intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1). We propose that alum triggers DC responses by altering membrane lipid structures. This study therefore suggests an unexpected mechanism for how this crystalline structure interacts with the immune system and how the DC plasma membrane may behave as a general sensor for solid structures.
Membrane lipid composition varies greatly within submembrane compartments, different organelle membranes, and also between cells of different cell stage, cell and tissue types, and organisms. ...Environmental factors (such as diet) also influence membrane composition. The membrane lipid composition is tightly regulated by the cell, maintaining a homeostasis that, if disrupted, can impair cell function and lead to disease. This is especially pronounced in the brain, where defects in lipid regulation are linked to various neurological diseases. The tightly regulated diversity raises questions on how complex changes in composition affect overall bilayer properties, dynamics, and lipid organization of cellular membranes. Here, we utilize recent advances in computational power and molecular dynamics force fields to develop and test a realistically complex human brain plasma membrane (PM) lipid model and extend previous work on an idealized, “average” mammalian PM. The PMs showed both striking similarities, despite significantly different lipid composition, and interesting differences. The main differences in composition (higher cholesterol concentration and increased tail unsaturation in brain PM) appear to have opposite, yet complementary, influences on many bilayer properties. Both mixtures exhibit a range of dynamic lipid lateral inhomogeneities (“domains”). The domains can be small and transient or larger and more persistent and can correlate between the leaflets depending on lipid mixture, Brain or Average, as well as on the extent of bilayer undulations.
Lipid polymorphisms and membrane shape Frolov, Vadim A; Shnyrova, Anna V; Zimmerberg, Joshua
Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology,
11/2011, Volume:
3, Issue:
11
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Morphological plasticity of biological membrane is critical for cellular life, as cells need to quickly rearrange their membranes. Yet, these rearrangements are constrained in two ways. First, ...membrane transformations may not lead to undesirable mixing of, or leakage from, the participating cellular compartments. Second, membrane systems should be metastable at large length scales, ensuring the correct function of the particular organelle and its turnover during cellular division. Lipids, through their ability to exist with many shapes (polymorphism), provide an adequate construction material for cellular membranes. They can self-assemble into shells that are very flexible, albeit hardly stretchable, which allows for their far-reaching morphological and topological behaviors. In this article, we will discuss the importance of lipid polymorphisms in the shaping of membranes and its role in controlling cellular membrane morphology.
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