Effects of Cadmium on Polar Lipid Composition and Unsaturation in Maize （Zea mays） in Hydroponic Culture

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Cd exposure （100 μmol/L） on polar lipid composition, and to examine the level of fatty acid unsaturation in maize （Zea mays L.）. In roots, the level of 16：0 and monounsaturated fatty acids （16：1 ＋ 18：1） decreased in phosphatidylcholine （PC） and phosphatidylethanolamine （PE）. In contrast, the proportion of unsaturated 18-C fatty acid species showed an opposite response to Cd. The content, on the other hand, of PC, PE, digalactosyldiacylglycerol （DGDG）, and steryl lipids increased in roots （2.9-, 1.6-, 5.3-, and 1.7-fold increase, respectively）. These results suggest that a more unsaturated fatty acid composition than found in control plants with a concomitant increase in polar lipids may favor seedling growth during Cd exposure. However, the observed increase in the steryl lipid （SL） ： phospholipid （PL） ratio （twofold）, the decrease in monogalactosyldiacylglycerol （MGDG） ： DGDG ratio, as well as the induction of lipid peroxidation in roots may represent symptoms of membrane injury. In shoots, the unsaturation level was markedly decreased in PC and phosphatidylglycerol （PG） after Cd exposure, but showed a significant increase in sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol （SQDG）, MGDG and DGDG. The content of PG and MGDG was decreased by about 65%, while PC accumulated to higher levels （4.4-fold increase）. Taken together, these changes in the polar lipid unsaturation and composition are likely to be due to alterations in the glycerolipid pathway. These results also support the idea that the increase in overall unsaturation plays some role in enabling the plant to withstand the metal exposure.     

Lipid Unsaturation Properties Govern the Sensitivity of Membranes to Photoinduced Oxidative Stress

Unsaturated lipid oxidation is a fundamental process involved in different aspects of cellular bioenergetics; dysregulation of lipid oxidation is often associated with cell aging and death. To study how lipid oxidation affects membrane biophysics, we used a chlorin photosensitizer to oxidize vesicles of various lipid compositions and degrees of unsaturation in a controlled manner. We observed different shape transitions that can be interpreted as an increase in the area of the targeted membrane followed by a decrease. These area modifications induced by the chemical modification of the membrane upon oxidation were followed in situ by Raman tweezers microspectroscopy. We found that the membrane area increase corresponds to the lipids’ peroxidation and is initiated by the delocalization of the targeted double bonds in the tails of the lipids. The subsequent decrease of membrane area can be explained by the formation of cleaved secondary products. As a result of these area changes, we observe vesicle permeabilization after a time lag that is characterized in relation with the level of unsaturation. The evolution of photosensitized vesicle radius was measured and yields an estimation of the mechanical changes of the membrane over oxidation time. The membrane is both weakened and permeabilized by the oxidation. Interestingly, the effect of unsaturation level on the dynamics of vesicles undergoing photooxidation is not trivial and thus carefully discussed. Our findings shed light on the fundamental dynamic mechanisms underlying the oxidation of lipid membranes and highlight the role of unsaturations on their physical and chemical properties.     

Effects of Melanins on Lipid Peroxidation

Effects of melanins obtained from cultured Cladosporium cladosporidae fungi and Alpha grape on Fe²⁺-induced, Fe²⁺–ascorbate-induced, and NADPH-induced lipid peroxidation in rat liver, brain, and eye were studied. Melanins were shown to inhibit the accumulation of lipid peroxidation products in vitro. The inhibitory effects of melanins were not due to direct interactions of these pigments with superoxide anion (O ₂ ). However, melanins may interact with other free radicals. Melanins were demonstrated to have the ability to oxidize NADPH, which is probably one of the mechanisms of their antioxidant effects.     

低温胁迫对类囊体膜脂代谢的影响

类囊体膜主要由膜脂、膜蛋白及一些光合色素等成分组成,它是植物进行光合作用的场所.低温能通过影响类囊体膜的结构而影响植物的光合作用.简述了类囊体膜的组成和功能,以及低温胁迫下类囊体膜脂及其脂肪酸组成的变化.简要介绍了膜脂与光抑制的关系,以及利用分子生物学手段研究三烯脂肪酸与植物抗冷性关系的相关进展.     

低温胁迫对类囊体膜脂代谢的影响

类囊体膜主要由膜脂、膜蛋白及一些光合色素等成分组成,它是植物进行光合作用的场所。低温能通过影响类囊体膜的结构而影响植物的光合作用。简述了类囊体膜的组成和功能,以及低温胁迫下类囊体膜脂及其脂肪酸组成的变化。简要介绍了膜脂与光抑制的关系,以及利用分子生物学手段研究三烯脂肪酸与植物抗冷性关系的相关进展。     

Impact of Temperature on Ladderane Lipid Distribution in Anammox Bacteria

Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria have the unique ability to synthesize fatty acids containing linearly concatenated cyclobutane rings, termed “ladderane lipids.” In this study we investigated the effect of temperature on the ladderane lipid composition and distribution in anammox enrichment cultures, marine particulate organic matter, and surface sediments. Under controlled laboratory conditions we observed an increase in the amount of C₂₀ [5]-ladderane fatty acids compared with the amount of C₁₈ [5]-ladderane fatty acids with increasing temperature and also an increase in the amount of C₁₈ [5]-ladderane fatty acids compared with the amount of C₂₀ [5]-ladderane fatty acids with decreasing temperature. Combining these data with results from the natural environment showed a significant (R² = 0.85, P = <0.0001, n = 121) positive sigmoidal relationship between the amounts of C₁₈ and C₂₀ [5]-ladderane fatty acids and the in situ temperature; i.e., there is an increase in the relative abundance of C₁₈ [5]-ladderane fatty acids at lower temperatures and vice versa, particularly at temperatures between 12°C and 20°C. Novel shorter (C₁₆) and longer (C₂₂ to C₂₄) ladderane fatty acids were also identified, but their relative amounts were small and did not change with temperature. The adaptation of ladderane fatty acid chain length to temperature changes is similar to the regulation of common fatty acid composition in other bacteria and may be the result of maintaining constant membrane fluidity under different temperature regimens (homeoviscous adaptation). Our results can potentially be used to discriminate between the origins of ladderane lipids in marine sediments, i.e., to determine if ladderanes are produced in situ in relatively cold surface sediments or if they are fossil remnants originating from the warmer upper water column.Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria possess the unique ability to oxidize NH₄⁺ with NO₂⁻ to N₂ under anoxic conditions (42). Since the discovery of the anammox process in a wastewater treatment plant in the Netherlands (21), studies have indicated that anammox bacteria are omnipresent in low-oxygen environments around the world. Anammox therefore forms an important link in both the oceanic (4, 7, 17, 18, 31) and freshwater (14, 33) nitrogen cycles. Unlike other Planctomycetes, anammox bacteria contain a unique “organelle” called the anammoxosome (19, 37, 44-46). The membrane of this compartment contains unusual “ladderane” lipids (37). The core ladderane lipids consist of C₁₈ and C₂₀ fatty acids containing either 3 or 5 linearly concatenated cyclobutane rings, which are ester bound to a glycerol backbone or ether bound as alkyl chains (35). In addition, the intact polar lipids containing the core lipid structures may have different types of polar head groups, including phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), or phosphatidylglycerol (PG) (1, 22). In silico density simulation modeling experiments with a ladderane lipid-containing membrane (glycerol-bound mixed ether-ester containing both ladderane moieties) have indicated that ladderane lipids could provide a denser cell membrane than conventional membrane lipids (37). Since the anammoxosome appears to be impenetrable to fluorophores, the ladderane membrane could function in cell energy conservation (37, 44).Experimental evidence has shown that anammox bacteria isolated from wastewater treatment reactors grow over a wide range of temperatures (20 to 43°C) and have an optimum temperature of about 35°C (39). In the natural environment the anammox process has been reported to occur at temperatures as low as −2.5°C in sea ice (5, 26) and as high as 70°C in hot springs and hydrothermal vent areas (3, 12). Furthermore, “Candidatus Scalindua spp.” has been successfully enriched from marine sediment (Gullmarsfjord, Sweden) in sequencing batch reactors at temperatures of 15 and 20°C (43). In other bacteria containing common fatty acids temperature adaptation can be achieved by (among other things) modifying the composition of the membrane bilayers to deal with alterations in membrane viscosity due to changes in temperature. This process has been well documented and is termed “homeoviscous adaptation”; i.e., the fatty acid composition is changed to maintain membrane fluidity (23, 27, 34, 40). Currently, it is not known how anammox bacteria, with their highly unusual ladderane lipids, react to temperature. To investigate this, we analyzed the ladderane lipid composition of anammox bacteria grown at different temperatures in sequencing batch reactors and in samples from different natural environments covering a wide range of temperatures.     

Lipid Effects on Expulsion Rate of Amphotericin B from Solid Lipid Nanoparticles

We aimed to investigate the effects that natural lipids, theobroma oil (TO) and beeswax (BW), might have on the physical properties of formulated nanoparticles and also the degree of expulsion of encapsulated amphotericin B (AmB) from the nanoparticles during storage. Lecithin and sodium cholate were used as emulsifiers whilst oleic acid (OA) was used to study the influence of the state of orderliness/disorderliness within the matrices of the nanoparticles on the degree of AmB expulsion during storage. BW was found to effect larger z-average diameter compared with TO. Lecithin was found to augment the stability of the nanoparticles imparted by BW and TO during storage. An encapsulation efficiency (%EE) of 59% was recorded when TO was the sole lipid as against 42% from BW. In combination however, the %EE dropped to 39%. When used as sole lipid, TO or BW formed nanoparticles with comparatively higher enthalpies, 21.1 and 23.3 J/g respectively, which subsequently caused significantly higher degree of AmB expulsion, 81 and 83% respectively, whilst only 11.8% was expelled from a binary TO/BW mixture. A tertiary TO/BW/OA mixture registered the lowest enthalpy at 8.07 J/g and expelled 12.6% of AmB but encapsulated only 22% of AmB. In conclusion, nanoparticles made from equal concentrations of TO and BW produced the most desirable properties and worthy of further investigations.     

低温胁迫下钼对冬小麦抗氧化防御系统及膜脂过氧化的影响

研究了低温（0～5℃）胁迫下钼对冬小麦抗氧化系统和膜脂过氧化的影响。结果表明,低温胁迫下施钼植株电解质渗漏率和丙二醛含量显著降低。施用钼肥提高了冬小麦叶片中抗氧化酶类如超氧化物歧化酶（SOD,EC1．15．1．1）、过氧化物酶（POX,EC1．11．1．7）和过氧化氢酶（CAT,ECl．11．1．6）的活性。低温胁迫下施钼对抗氧化酶（SOD、POX和CAT）活性提高幅度比常温下高。不论常温还是低温下,施铝均提高了冬小麦叶片中抗坏血酸和脯氨酸含量,低温胁迫下提高幅度更大。常温下缺钼和施钼处理后,叶片中类胡萝卜素含量差异不显著;低温下施钼后,冬小麦叶片类胡萝卜素含量显著增加。因此,低温胁迫下施钼植株活性氧清除能力增强、细胞膜伤害减轻可能是冬小麦抗寒力提高的原因之一。     

Reversible Effects of Peptide Concentration and Lipid Composition on H-Ras Lipid Anchor Clustering

Dynamic clusters of lipid-anchored Ras proteins are important for high-fidelity signal transduction in cells. The average size of Ras nanoclusters was reported to be independent of protein expression levels, and cholesterol depletion is commonly used to test the raft-preference of nanoclusters. However, whether protein concentration and membrane domain stability affect Ras clustering in a reversible manner is not well understood. We used coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to examine the reversibility of the effects of peptide and cholesterol concentrations as well as a lipid domain-perturbing nanoparticle (C₆₀) on the dynamics and stability of H-Ras lipid-anchor nanoclusters. By comparing results from these simulations with previous observations from the literature, we show that effects of peptide/cholesterol concentrations on the dynamics and stability of H-Ras peptide nanoclusters are reversible. Our results also suggest a correlation between the stabilities of lipid domains and Ras nanoclusters, which is supported by our finding that C₆₀ penetrates into the liquid-disordered domain of the bilayer, destabilizing lipid domains and thereby the stability of the nanoclusters.     

果醋对高脂小鼠血脂和肝脏脂质过氧化的影响

本文目的在于研究果醋对高脂小鼠血脂和肝脏脂质过氧化的影响。长期饲喂高脂饲料造成小鼠高血脂和肝脏脂质过氧化模型,预防性给予果醋,测定血清中总胆固醇（TC）,甘油三酯（TG）,低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）和高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）的含量;测定肝脏中脂质过氧化终产物丙二醛（地A）的含量和超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）的活性。结果证明果醋可以明显降低高脂小鼠血清中TC,LDL含量和肝脏组织中MDA含量,提高肝脏组织SOD活性。     

Pleiotropic Effects of Cavin-1 Deficiency on Lipid Metabolism

Mice and humans lacking caveolae due to gene knock-out or inactivating mutations of cavin-1/PTRF have numerous pathologies including markedly aberrant fuel metabolism, lipodystrophy, and muscular dystrophy. We characterized the physiologic/metabolic profile of cavin-1 knock-out mice and determined that they were lean because of reduced white adipose depots. The knock-out mice were resistant to diet-induced obesity and had abnormal lipid metabolism in the major metabolic organs of white and brown fat and liver. Epididymal white fat cells from cavin-1-null mice were small and insensitive to insulin and β-adrenergic agonists resulting in reduced adipocyte lipid storage and impaired lipid tolerance. At the molecular level, the lipolytic defects in white fat were caused by impaired perilipin phosphorylation, and the reduced triglyceride accumulation was caused by decreased fatty acid uptake and incorporation as well as the virtual absence of insulin-stimulated glucose transport. The livers of cavin-1-null mice were mildly steatotic and did not accumulate more lipid after high-fat feeding. The brown adipose tissues of cavin-1-null mice exhibited decreased mitochondria protein expression, which was restored upon high fat feeding. Taken together, these data suggest that dysfunction in fat, muscle, and liver metabolism in cavin-1-null mice causes a pleiotropic phenotype, one apparently identical to that of humans lacking caveolae in all tissues.     

Temperature Effects on Bacterial Phytochrome

Bacteriophytochromes (BphPs) are light-sensing regulatory proteins encoded in photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic bacteria. This protein class incorporate bilin as their chromophore, with majority of them bearing a light- regulated His kinase or His kinase related module in the C-terminal. We studied the His kinase actives in the temperature range of 5°C to 40°C on two BphPs, Agp1 from Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Cph1 from cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. As reported, the phosphorylation activities of the far red (FR) irradiated form of the holoprotein is stronger than that of the red (R) irradiated form in both phytochromes. We observed for the apoprotein and FR irradiated holoprotein of Agp1 an increase in the phosphorylation activities from 5°C to 25°C and a decrease from 25°C to 40°C. At 5°C the activities of the apoprotein were significantly lower than those of the FR irradiated holoprotein, which was opposite at 40°C. A similar temperature pattern was observed for Cph1, but the maximum of the apoprotein was at 20°C while the maximum of the FR irradiated holoprotein was at 10°C. At 40°C, prolonged R irradiation leads to an irreversible bleaching of Cph1, an effect which depends on the C-terminal His kinase module. A more prominent and reversible temperature effect on spectral properties of Agp1, mediated by the His kinase, has been reported before. His kinases in phytochromes could therefore share similar temperature characteristics. We also found that phytochrome B mutants of Arabidopsis have reduced hypocotyl growth at 37°C in darkness, suggesting that this phytochrome senses the temperature or mediates signal transduction of temperature effects.     

The Effect of Temperature on the Lipid Composition of the Green Alga Botryococcus

The lipid composition of the green alga Botryococcus was studied at three different cultivation temperatures: suboptimal (18°C), optimal (25°C), and supraoptimal (32°C). Cultivation at the supraoptimal temperature was found to considerably inhibit the synthesis of nearly all intracellular lipids, except for triacylglycerides, and to influence their fatty acid composition. In particular, the content of trienoic fatty acids was significantly lower at the supraoptimal than at the optimal cultivation temperature. At the same time, the fatty acid composition of the extracellular lipids of the alga virtually did not depend on cultivation temperature.     

高功率微波辐照对视细胞脂质结构的影响

目的:研究高功率微波( HPM)照射后视网膜感光细胞中膜脂质的分子结构改变,探讨HPM的损伤机制.方法:通过显微FT-IR技术观察HPM照射前后大鼠视网膜冰冻切片中感光细胞外节的膜脂质分子特征吸收峰的位移与吸收值差异,分析脂质分子结构的改变情况.结果:HPM照后外节发生了膜脂质分子特征吸收峰的位移,并出现=C-H基团和...     

低温下硼对巨尾桉叶片膜脂过氧化及体内保护系统的影响

以木本植物巨尾桉幼苗为材料,研究在低温下,硼对巨尾桉叶片膜脂过氧化及体内保护系统的影响.结果表明:在低温(5℃,以25℃为对照)下,缺硼或低硼(≤10 umol/L)导致巨尾桉叶片相对电导率、超氧物阴离子自由基(O2-)产生速率、丙二醛(MDA)含量和多酚氧化酶(PPO)活性增加;抗坏血酸(ASA)和可溶性蛋白质含量、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化物酶(POD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)和抗坏血酸过氧化物酶(APX)活性下降.而15 u mol/L硼可以减轻低温对巨尾桉幼苗的伤害,提高巨尾桉幼苗的抗寒能力.     

UVB对水稻幼苗膜脂过氧化作用的影响

ＵＶ－Ｂ处理的水稻幼苗,叶片的膜透性、Ｏ２－净产生速率及ＭＤＡ含量显著增加。在ＵＶ－Ｂ处理初期,活性氧防御系统中的ＳＯＤ和ＣＡＴ活性比对照增强,但随着处理时间的延长,ＳＯＤ和ＣＡＴ活性明显下降;ＰＯＤ活性受ＵＶ－Ｂ处理抑制。这一结果表明,ＵＶ－Ｂ降低了细胞内活性氧自由基的清除能力,膜脂过氧化作用加剧,最终导致伤害效应。     

6-BA预处理对低温弱光胁迫下辣椒幼苗叶绿素a荧光参数和膜脂过氧化的

研究6-BA预处理对低温（15℃/5℃）弱光（100μmol·m^-2·s^-1）下辣椒品种‘湘研16号’幼苗叶片中叶绿素a荧光参数和膜脂过氧化影响。结果表明,0．08mmol·L^-16-BA减缓低温弱光下辣椒幼苗光系统II（PSII）最大光化学效率（Fv/Fm）、PSH实际光化学效率（ΦPSII）和PSII反应中心光能捕获效率（Fv’/Fm’）的下降以及叶片膜透性和丙二醛（malondialdehyde,MDA）含量的增加,但是提高了超氧化物歧化酶（superoxidedismutase,SCD）、过氧化物酶（peroxidase,POD）、过氧化氢酶（catalase,CAT）以及抗坏血酸过氧化物酶（ascorbate peroxidase,APX）的活性。