Eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in cultured rat ventricular myocytes and hypoxia-induced alterations of phospholipase—A activity

Hypoxia was reported to induce a decrease in phosphatidylcholine-hydrolyzing phospholipase activity (PC-PLA) in cultured rat cardiomyocytes. This work was intended to compare the influence of the presence of either eicosapentae noic acid (EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the phospholipids on the PC-PLA activity in normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The enrichment of the medium with EPA or DHA resulted in cell phospholipids containing about 2% or 22% DHA, respectively. These cells were then submitted for 3.5 h to either normoxia or hypoxia and the PC-PLA activities were assayed using [1-¹⁴C] dioleoyl-PC (pH 8.4 for PC-PLA2 and 4.9 for PC-PLAT). The results show that both enzymic activities are significantly higher in DHA-rich cardiomyocytes. Hypoxia induced a significant decrease in PC-PLA2 (about 25%) which was not statistically different between the two groups of cells. The hypoxia-induced decrease in PC-PLA1 was not found significant. In conclusion, the nature of the long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the phospholipids appears to contribute to the regulation of PC-PLA activity but not to influence its decrease during hypoxia. (Mol Cell Biochem116: 75–78, 1992)     

二氢青蒿素通过诱导铁死亡抑制肝癌细胞生长

二氢青蒿素（dihydroartemisinin,DHA）是青蒿素的一种衍生物,在多种肿瘤中表现出明显的抗肿瘤活性,但其具体机制不详。本文探讨了DHA对肝癌细胞的毒性作用机制。利用CCK-8试剂检测DHA对肝癌细胞株活力的影响,通过荧光探针染色及流式细胞术分析细胞内ROS及脂质过氧化物水平的变化;通过谷胱甘肽测定试剂盒检测细胞内还原型谷胱甘肽含量的变化,并通过免疫印迹分析DHA作用下细胞内铁死亡通路蛋白质中GPX4的变化。结果发现,DHA能显著抑制SMMC-7721及Huh-7细胞活力,其半数抑制浓度分别为23.74 μmol/L及26.92 μmol/L。 在35 μmol/L DHA 处理下,SMMC-7721及Huh-7细胞内ROS分别升高2.6倍和2.1倍,脂质过氧化物升高2.3倍和1.7倍。DHA可诱导细胞内GSH含量下降,并能下调铁死亡相关蛋白质GPX4蛋白水平。通过利用小分子抑制剂进行功能恢复实验发现,ROS抑制剂、铁螯合剂及铁死亡抑制剂都可不同程度恢复DHA引起的细胞活力下降。进一步检测发现,铁死亡抑制剂可抑制DHA诱导的脂质过氧化,并恢复GSH含量及GPX4蛋白水平。结果表明,在肝癌细胞中,DHA可通过诱导细胞发生铁死亡抑制肝癌细胞生长。     

Nutritional intervention with omega-3 fatty acids enhances tumor response to anti-neoplastic agents

Nutritional intervention with specific fatty acids depresses tumor growth and enhances tumor responsiveness to chemotherapy. Supplementation of tumors with long chained omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids results in enrichment of tumor phospholipid fractions with omega-3 fatty acids resulting in an altered membrane composition and function. Tumors enriched with long chained omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids possess membranes with increased fluidity, an elevated unsaturation index, enhanced transport capabilities that results in accumulation of selective anti-cancer agents, increased activity of selected drug activating enzymes, and alteration of signaling pathways important for cancer progression. These nutritionally induced changes in tumor fatty acid composition result in increased sensitivity to chemotherapy, especially in tumor lines that are resistant to chemotherapy and cause specific enhancement of cytotoxicity to tumor cells and protection of normal cells. Pre-disposing tumors to increased chemo-sensitivity through nutritional intervention with specific fatty acids has the potential to improve patient response to chemotherapy with fewer untoward side effects if these pre-clinical findings carry over into a clinical setting.     

Multi-component analysis of marine lipids in fish gonads with emphasis on phospholipids using high resolution NMR spectroscopy

High resolution NMR has been applied for assessment of lipid classes and acyl stereospecific positions of fatty acids in marine phospholipids and triacylglycerols. 1D and 2D NMR techniques in combination with recording of a number of reference standards have been used to interpret the (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra of fish gonads. (13)C NMR spectra gave information regarding the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). The carbonyl resonances showed that n-3 PUFAs primarily were esterified in the sn-2 position of PC and PE. The glycerol resonances showed that the PC/PE ratio was higher in roe than in milt and that roe comprised more triacylglycerols than milt. Thin layer chromatography showed that milt contained 2.4 times more cholesterol than roe, which was also found by integrating the (1)H NMR spectra. Concentration (mol%) of n-3 fatty acids were calculated from the (1)H NMR data and showed 44.8 and 36.3% in roe and milt, respectively.     

Generation of oxidant response to copper and iron nanoparticles and salts: Stimulation by ascorbate

The present work describes a two-stage approach to analyzing combustion-generated samples for their potential to produce oxidant stress. This approach is illustrated with the two commonly encountered transition metals, copper and iron. First, their abilities to generate hydroxyl radical were measured in a cell-free, phosphate-buffered saline solution containing ascorbate and/or citrate. Second, their abilities to induce heme oxygenase-1 in cultured human epidermal keratinocytes were assessed in cell culture. Combustion-generated copper oxide nanoparticles were active in both assays and were found to be soluble in culture medium. Depletion of glutathione in the cells or loading the cells with ascorbate greatly increased heme oxygenase-1 induction in the presence of copper. By contrast, iron oxide nanoparticles were active in the phosphate-buffered saline but not in cell culture, and they aggregated in culture medium. Soluble salts of copper and iron exhibited the same contrast in activities as the respective combustion-generated particles. The results suggest that the capability of combustion-generated environmental samples to produce oxidant stress can be screened effectively in a two step process, first in phosphate-buffered saline with ascorbate and subsequently in epithelial cell culture for those exhibiting activity initially. The results also point to an unanticipated interaction in cells of oxidant stress-generating metals with an antioxidant (ascorbate) that is usually missing in culture medium formulations. Thus, ascorbate supplementation of cultured human cells is likely to improve their ability to model the in vivo effects of particulate matter containing copper and other redox-active metals.     

Polyunsaturated fatty acid-cholesterol interactions: Domain formation in membranes

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) constitute an influential group of molecules that promote health by an as yet unknown mechanism. They are structurally distinguished from less unsaturated fatty acids by the presence of a repeating CH-CH₂-CH unit that produces an extremely flexible chain rapidly reorienting through conformational states. The most highly unsaturated case in point is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with 6 double bonds. This review will summarize how the high disorder of DHA affects the properties of the membrane phospholipids into which the PUFA incorporates, focusing upon the profound impact on the interaction with cholesterol. Results obtained with model membranes using an array of biophysical techniques will be presented. They demonstrate DHA and the sterol possesses a mutual aversion that drives the lateral segregation of DHA-containing phospholipids into highly disordered domains away from cholesterol. These domains are compositionally and organizationally the opposite of lipid rafts, the ordered domain enriched in predominantly saturated sphingolipids “glued” together by cholesterol that is believed to serve as the platform for signaling proteins. We hypothesize that DHA-rich domains also form in the plasma membrane and are responsible, in part, for the diverse range of health benefits associated with DHA.     

微藻油脂组成的核磁共振碳谱表征

微藻油脂由于富含二十二碳六烯酸(DHA) 等多不饱和脂肪酸,且在培养过程中能吸收二氧化碳,因此在人类营养学和环境保护两个层面受到了前所未有的重视.为了深入考察微藻油脂的培养和提取过程,建立一种不破坏油脂就能区分油脂来源和特征的方法,是必不可少的.本文介绍了一种核磁共振碳谱表征方法.因为不必酯化,所以不仅可以测定双键数目和位置不同的脂肪酰基的摩尔比,而且测定了不同酰基在甘油烷基上的分布状况.本文分析了富含多不饱和脂肪酸的市售微藻油、富含饱和脂肪酸的棕榈油和富含单不饱和脂肪酸的橄榄油的组成,讨论了区分微藻微藻油中饱和脂肪酰基和不饱和脂肪酰基的测定方法和两种酰基的排列方式.     

长链多不饱和脂肪酸的替代来源——转基因油料作物

长链多不饱和脂肪酸(LCPUFA)对人体健康和发育具有极为重要的作用.由于海洋鱼类资源过度捕捞和环境污染的加剧,长链多不饱和脂肪酸的来源日益枯竭.利用转基因油料作物生产LCPUFA,特别是DHA和EPA成为目前研究的热点.归纳了LCPUFA合成代谢途径相关基因的最新研究进展,描述了利用植物基因工程合成长链多不饱和脂肪酸(特别是EPA和DHA)取得的主要成果,讨论了影响转基因油料作物合成DHA和EPA的关键因素,最后对利用转基因油料作物合成DHA和EPA的研究前景进行了展望.     

Effect of feeding a docosahexaenoic acid-enriched nutriceutical on the quality of fresh and frozen-thawed semen in Holstein bulls

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of feeding a DHA-enriched nutriceutical on the in vitro quality and sperm motility parameters of fresh and frozen-thawed bull semen assessed by CASA. Samples were obtained from nineteen Holstein bulls used for semen collection at Semen Production Center, Karaj, Iran. Control group (n = 10) were fed a standard concentrate feed while treatment group bulls (n = 9) had this standard feed top dressed with 100 g of a commercially available DHA-enriched nutriceutical. Semen quality was assessed on ejaculates collected at the baseline and after 5, 9, and 12 weeks of supplementation. Classical semen evaluation, assessment of sperm motility (subjective and computer-assisted), viability (eosin-nigrosin), and hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST) were conducted. Semen volume, sperm concentration, and consequently total sperm output were not affected by dietary treatment (P > 0.05). Feeding the nutriceutical was indeed found to affect sperm motility parameters assessed by CASA after 9 weeks of trial. The treatment has improved total motility (P < 0.01), progressive motility (P < 0.05), average path velocity (P < 0.05), HOST-positive (P < 0.01), and proportion of rapid spermatozoa (P < 0.01) in the fresh semen of bulls. Moreover, the proportion of viable spermatozoa increased (P < 0.05) in the ejaculates collected from nutriceutical-fed bulls compared to the control after 12 weeks of feeding trial. The post-thawed HOST and sperm motility data obtained by CASA did not differ between two groups (P > 0.05). On the other hand, dietary supplementation did not affect body weight, BCS and scrotal circumference. Consequently, it can be concluded that dietary DHA supplementation or its precursors, improve in vitro quality and motility parameters of fresh semen assessed by CASA in Holstein bulls. However, this effect was not pronounced in frozen-thawed semen.