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Biomedical subjects

G Lenaz

Publications and source records attributed to G Lenaz.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1966

Lipid metabolism in fatty liver of lysine- and threonine-deficient rats.

Rats were fed a low protein diet deficient in and supplemented with lysine and threonine. Liver lipids contained more lecithin, sphingomyelin, and free fatty acids, and less amino phospholipids in the deficient rats. No variations in fatty acid composition of choline- and ethanolamine-containing phospholipids were found; only palmitic acid was increased in the serine-containing phospholipids of the deficient animals. The incorporation of acetate-(14)C into phospholipids, but not into other liver lipids, was lower in deficient rats. In the plasma of deficient rats the concentration of esterified fatty acids and phospholipids was lower, of free fatty acids higher, than in the controls. The fatty acid composition of depot fat differed from that of liver neutral fat both in deficient and supplemented animals. The results presented establish that multiple metabolic defects resulting from lysine and threonine deficiency accompany the fatty liver. The design of the experiments does not permit conclusions to be drawn regarding the causal relationship between the various alterations in lipid metabolism and the fatty liver.

Acetates↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species: mechanisms and implications in human pathology.

Mitochondria are major sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS); the main sites of superoxide radical production in the respiratory chain are Complexes III and I; however, other mitochondrial enzymes, such as Complex II, glycerol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase, and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, are also involved in production of ROS. ROS appear to be released both in the matrix and in the intermembrane space; however, their appearance outside the mitochondria may not be physiologically relevant. ROS production is increased in State 4 and in all conditions when the respiratory components are substantially in the reduced form. Accordingly, defects inducing decrease of electron transfer in the respiratory chain, as in many pathological conditions, are bound to enhance ROS production.

Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Does coenzyme Q10 play a role in opposing oxidative stress in patients with age-related macular degeneration?

To seek some specific biochemical markers of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) levels were determined in plasma and platelets from 19 exudative AMD patients and 19 age-matched controls. Lipid peroxidation was followed in plasma in vitro after the addition of a free radical initiator. Most patients had lower plasma CoQ10 content than most controls. Plasma from controls showed greater capacity to oppose the oxidative damage. These results support the concept that free radicals play a pathogenic role in AMD and that CoQ10 may have a protective effect.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of Ca2+ on structure and fluidity of microvillus membranes of human placenta.

This investigation shows the effect of a Ca2+ addition on the structural and physiochemical properties of microvillus plasma membranes obtained from human placenta. Ca2+ addition induces an increase in microviscosity, as shown by the increase of order parameter and rotational correlation time of 5- and 16-doxylsterate derivatives and by the increase of fluorescence polarization of diphenylhexatriene. All the effects were obtained in a wide temperature range. The morphometric analysis of the ultrastructural images shows that the vesicle profiles of syncytiotrophoblast membranes decrease both area and form factor (FF) in the presence of Ca2+ with respect to the controls. The freeze-fracture results also show that Ca2+ induces an enhanced tendency to IMP clusterization. The Ca2+-induced changes were observed in both E and P faces. Our results underline the important role of Ca2+ in the cell membrane structure per se and in modulating interactions between cytoplasmic and extracellular microenvironments. The results of morphometric analysis of the ultrastructural images agree with biochemical data showing an increased stability induced by calcium on plasma membranes.

Calcium↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Natural distribution and occurrence of coenzyme Q homologues.

The knowledge of coenzyme Q levels in tissues, organs, and subcellular compartments is of outstanding interest. A wide amount of data regarding coenzyme Q distribution and occurrence was collected in the last decades; nevertheless the data are often hard to compare because of the different extraction methods and different analytical techniques used. We have undertaken a systematic study for detecting the ubiquinone content in subcellular compartments, cells, and whole-tissue homogenates by a previously standardized HPLC method performed after an extraction procedure identical for all samples. It was confirmed that the major coenzyme Q homologue in rat tissues is coenzyme Q9; however, it was pointed out that all the rodents samples tested contain more than one coenzyme Q homologue. The coenzyme Q homologue distribution is tissue dependent with relatively high coenzyme Q10 content in brain mitochondria, irrespective of the rat strain used. There is no constant relationship of the coenzyme Q content in mitochondria and microsomes fractions. Most organisms tested (including other mammals, bird and fish specimens) have only coenzyme Q10, while the protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis contains only coenzyme Q8.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fromation and stoichiometry of a lysozyme-phospholipid-mitochondrial protein ternary complex.

Mitochondrial membranes reconstituted from lipid-depleted mitochondria and aqueous phospholipid dispersions still have the phospholipid negative charges available for ionic interaction with the basic protein, lysozyme. The stoichiometry of the binding is of about 6 nmoles of lysozyme per 100 nmoles of phospholipid in membranes reconstituted with Asolectin, and of 10 nmoles of phospholipid phosphorus in membranes reconstituted with cardiolipin. Unextracted submitochondrial particles ETP also bind lysozyme (about 3 nmoles per 100 nmoles of phospholipid). These observations indicate that the phospholipid anionic groups are not completely shielded by the mitochondrial proteins, which might occupy areas between the nonpolar groups of the lipid molecules.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A conformational model of the action of general anesthetics at the membrane level. III. Anesthetics and the properties of membrane-bound enzymes: mitochondrial ATPase.

We have studied the effect of general anesthetics on the kinetic properties of the mitochondrial Mg2+-dependent ATPase. The enzyme is inhibited by anesthetics (alcohols, halotane, pentrane, ketamine) at concentrations of the order of those found to affect lipid-protein interactions. The inhibition appears usually uncompetitive with respect to the substrate, ATP, with a decrease of both Vmax and KM, indicating a possible stabilization of the enzyme-substrate complex. Arrhenius plots of ATPase activity show a striking increase in activation energy below 17-20 degrees C. Anesthetics affect the temperature dependence by increasing the activation energy above the break or abolishing the break whatsoever. An exception is diethyl ether, that induces a decrease in activation energy and a shift of the break to lower temperatures. Anesthetics make the ATPase insensitive to energy transfer inhibitor, oligomycin and dicyclohexyl carbodiimide. At low anesthetic concentration the oligomycin inhibition curve is changed from sigmoidal to hyperbolic, showing a loss of cooperativity in the inhibition.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

New approaches to the prediction of the folding of membrane proteins with redox function.

A new method is elaborated for determining the hydropathy profile of membrane haemoproteins. The method is called membrane propensity for haemoproteins (MPH) and is based on the statistical analysis of the amino acid composition of the predicted transmembrane regions of cytochrome b from the bc1 and the b6f complexes. The accuracy of the MPH method in predicting the ends of the known transmembrane segments of the reaction center of Rhodopseudomonas viridis is higher than that obtained by hydropathy methods based on physico-chemical parameters. The MPH method is able to clearly exclude from the membrane polypeptides that are not consistently predicted to be transmembrane by other methods or techniques, for instance the region corresponding to helix IV of mitochondrial cytochrome b. A correlation has been found between the shape of the hydropathy profile of the transmembrane segments predicted by this new method and the known structure of the membrane-spanning helices of Rhodobacter reaction centers. From the above correlation it is proposed that the haem-coordinating domain of mitochondrial cytochrome b is folded in a novel structure, called "clepsydra domain", which is formed by distorted transmembrane helices packed in a waisted antiparallel bundle.

Amino Acids↗