Liposomes constructed from Escherichia coli membrane lipids were used as a pseudo-stationary phase in capillary electrophoresis and immobilised liposome chromatography to evaluate the interaction between antibacterial peptide (ABP) Apep10 and bacterial membrane lipids. The peptide mobility decreased as the concentration of liposomes increased, providing evidence for the existence of this intera...

Inhibition of peptidoglycan synthesis causes an immediate and massive secretion of both newly synthesized and "old" lipids from several species of bacteria, including streptococci, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Bacillus subtilis. Lipid secretion occurs in the absence of detectable bacterial lysis. This novel phenomenon was examined in more detail in three strains of streptococci: S. sanguis (...

Human CD1c is a protein that activates alphabeta T cells by presenting self antigens, synthetic mannosyl phosphodolichols, and mycobacterial mannosyl phosphopolyketides. To determine which molecular features of antigen structure confer a T cell response, we measured activation by structurally divergent Mycobacterium tuberculosis mannosyl-beta1-phosphomycoketides and synthetic analogs with eithe...

Dendritic cells (DC) are the most professional APC, which induce and coordinate immune responses. The principal task of DC is T cell activation, although DC also interact with and regulate other cell types. The present review serves to illustrate the increasing evidence that lipids play an important role in DC biology. In addition to being fuel stores and structural components of cellular membr...

Liposomes have a variety of applications as model systems to study enclosed biological membranes, as delivery vehicles for a variety of drugs and as micro- and nano-reactors, amongst others. However, preparation of liposomes requires use of expensive raw material (synthetic lipids) from specialized commercial suppliers, and ability to make reproducible preparations remains a specialized art til...

Phytoplankton inhabiting oligotrophic ocean gyres actively reduce their phosphorus demand by replacing polar membrane phospholipids with those lacking phosphorus. Although the synthesis of nonphosphorus lipids is well documented in some heterotrophic bacterial lineages, phosphorus-free lipid synthesis in oligotrophic marine chemoheterotrophs has not been directly demonstrated, implying they are...

Novel cationic antimicrobial peptides typified by structures such as KKKKKKAAXAAWAAXAA-NH2, where X = Phe/Trp, and several of their analogues display high activity against a variety of bacteria but exhibit no hemolytic activity even at high dose levels in mammalian erythrocytes. To elucidate their mechanism of action and source of selectivity for bacterial membranes, phospholipid mixtures mimic...