CiteULike is a free online bibliography manager. Register and you can start organising your references online.

Activation of Membrane Cholesterol by 63 Amphipaths Export

Biochemistry, Vol. 48, No. 36. (15 September 2009), pp. 8505-8515.

Citation Format

[Posts]

View FullText article


sobolevnrm's tags for this article

biomembranes ligand-membrane_interactions sterols

X Reviews [Write a review of this article]

X Find related articles from these CiteULike users

X Find related articles with these CiteULike tags

X Posting History

X Abstract

PMID: 19655814 A few membrane-intercalating amphipaths have been observed to stimulate the interaction of cholesterol with cholesterol oxidase, saponin and cyclodextrin, presumably by displacing cholesterol laterally from its phospholipid complexes. We now report that this effect, referred to as cholesterol activation, occurs with dozens of other amphipaths, including alkanols, saturated and cis- and trans-unsaturated fatty acids, fatty acid methyl esters, sphingosine derivatives, terpenes, alkyl ethers, ketones, aromatics and cyclic alkyl derivatives. The apparent potency of the agents tested ranged from 3 μM to 7 mM and generally paralleled their octanol/water partition coefficients, except that relative potency declined for compounds with >10 carbons. Some small amphipaths activated cholesterol at a membrane concentration of ∼3 mol per 100 mol of bilayer lipids, about equimolar with the cholesterol they displaced. Lysophosphatidylserine countered the effects of all these agents, consistent with its ability to reduce the pool of active membrane cholesterol. Various amphipaths stabilized red cells against the hemolysis elicited by cholesterol depletion, presumably by substituting for the extracted sterol. The number and location of cis and trans fatty acid unsaturations and the absolute stereochemistry of enantiomer pairs had only small effects on amphipath potency. Nevertheless, potency varied ∼7-fold within a group of diverse agents with similar partition coefficients. We infer that a wide variety of amphipaths can displace membrane cholesterol by competing stoichiometrically but with only limited specificity for weak association with phospholipids. Any number of other drugs and experimental agents might do the same.


X BibTeX record

X RIS record


Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions
CiteULike organises scholarly (or academic) papers or literature and provides bibliographic (which means it makes bibliographies) for universities and higher education establishments. It helps undergraduates and postgraduates. People studying for PhDs or in postdoctoral (postdoc) positions. The service is similar in scope to EndNote or RefWorks or any other reference manager like BibTeX, but it is a social bookmarking service for scientists and humanities researchers.