Changes in the temperature response, fluidity, function and the acyl fatty acid composition, were determined for a mitochondria-rich membrane fraction from Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) tubers during dormancy for a crop which matured in midsummer. The temperature of both the upper and lower limits of the membrane lipid transition decreased during dormancy from 26 C and 1 C to 4 ...

Membrane fluidity plays an important role in cellular functions. Membrane proteins are mobile in the lipid fluid environment; lateral diffusion of membrane proteins is slower than expected by theory, due to both the effect of protein crowding in the membrane and to constraints from the aqueous matrix. A major aspect of diffusion is in macromolecular associations: reduction of dimensionality for...

Background: Chest X-ray is one of the examinations required for an annual health checkup. The interaction of radiation to the medium produces free radicals, which consequently causes biological changes either structural or properties of the cells. Whether the radiation from Chest X-ray upright technique affects the plasma membrane fluidity of thalassemic red blood cells (RBCs) is still unclear....

Diffusion-time distribution analysis (DDA) has been used to explore the plasma membrane fluidity of multidrug-resistant cancer cells (LR73 carcinoma cells) and also to characterize the influence of various membrane agents present in the extracellular medium. DDA is a recent single-molecule technique, based on fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), well suited to retrieve local organizatio...

Epicatechin conjugates obtained from grape have shown antioxidant activity in various systems. However, how these conjugates exert their antioxidant benefits has not been widely studied. We assessed the activity of epicatechin and epicatechin conjugates on the erythrocyte membrane in the presence and absence of a peroxyl radical initiator, to increase our understanding of their mechanisms. Thus...

The present work focuses on the anti-neoplastic role of non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in modulating the biophysical parameters of the colonic membranes in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine dihydrochloride (DMH) induced carcinogenesis. The steady-state fluorescence polarization technique was applied to assess membrane fluidity, membrane polarity and lipid phase states. The decline in choles...

The specific binding of [125I] hCG to ovarian membrane preparations as well as membrane fluidity have been investigated in immature rats during hormonally-induced pseudopregnancy. Membrane fluidity was monitored either by fluorescence polarization analysis of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene or by electron spin resonance of 16-, 12-, 5-doxyl stearic acid and CAT 16. A significant positive correlat...

Solid-state NMR spectroscopy has emerged as an excellent tool to study the structure and dynamics of membrane proteins under native-like conditions in lipid bilayers. One of the key considerations in experimental design is the uniaxial rotational diffusion of the protein that can affect the NMR spectral observables. In this regard, temperature plays a fundamental role in modulating the phase pr...

Many membrane bound proteins are closely associated with lipids. These membrane lipids are not only structural components of cellular compartmentation but also functionally important elements involved in some are of the biological functions of membrane proteins1). With respect to the dynamic structure of membranes, there is evidence that membrane fluidity may play an important role in some biol...

We compared the potency of the interaction of three antipsychotic drugs, i.e., chlorpromazine (CPZ), haloperidol (HAL) and sulpiride (SUL), with the plasma membrane in the rat brain. CPZ loading (≥ 100 μM) dose-dependently increased both membrane permeability (assessed as [F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-6-phosphate release from brain slices) and membrane fluidity (assessed as the reduction in the...