Many proteins associated with the plasma membrane are known to partition into submicroscopic sphingolipid- and cholesterol-rich domains called lipid rafts, but the determinants dictating this segregation of proteins in the membrane are poorly understood. We suppressed the tendency of Aequorea fluorescent proteins to dimerize and targeted these variants to the plasma membrane using several diffe...

The purpose of this study is to investigated the mechanism of pharmacological action of local anesthetic and provide the basic information about the development of new effective local anesthetics. Fluorescent probe techniques were used to evaluate the effect of lidocaine·HCl on the physical properties (transbilayer asymmetric lateral and rotational mobility, annular lipid fluidity and protein d...

Beta-barrel membrane proteins occur in the outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria, mitochondria and chloroplasts. The membrane-spanning sequences of h-barrel membrane proteins are less hydrophobic than those of a-helical membrane proteins, which is probably the main reason why completely different folding and membrane assembly pathways have evolved for these two classes of membrane proteins....

 Background: Paraquat (PQ), as the most widely used herbicide in agriculture, induces poisoning in humans and animals mainly through oxidative stress. This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of nano-curcumin compared with curcumin against PQ-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six Wistar rats were used in this study. They were separated into 6 groups...

Peripheral proteins can trigger the formation of domains in mixed fluid-like lipid membranes. We analyze the mechanism underlying this process for proteins that bind electrostatically onto a flat two-component membrane, composed of charged and neutral lipid species. Of particular interest are membranes in which the hydrocarbon lipid tails tend to segregate owing to nonideal chain mixing, but th...

background: genistein is a soya isoflavone, which is found naturally in legumes, such as soybeans and chickpeas. radiation–induced free radicals in turn impair the antioxidative defense mechanism, leading to an increased membrane lipid peroxidation that results in damage of the membrane bound enzyme and may lead to damage or death of cell. hence, the lipid peroxidation is a good biomarker of da...

We have carried out a series of experiments in which the lipid composition of the photosynthetic membrane has been altered by the addition of lipid from a defined source under experimental conditions. Liposomes prepared by sonication are mixed with purified photosynthetic membranes obtained from spinach chloroplasts and are taken through cycles of freezing and thawing. Several lines of evidence...

K-Ras is targeted to the plasma membrane by a C-terminal membrane anchor that comprises a farnesyl-cysteine-methyl-ester and a polybasic domain. We used quantitative spatial imaging and atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to examine molecular details of K-Ras plasma membrane binding. We found that the K-Ras anchor binds selected plasma membrane anionic lipids with defined head groups and l...

Membrane proteins are generally unstable in detergents. Therefore, biochemical and biophysical studies of membrane proteins in lipidic environments provides a near native-like environment suitable for membrane proteins. However, manipulation of proteins embedded in lipid bilayer has remained difficult. Methods such as nanodiscs and lipid cubic phase have been developed for easy manipulation of ...

Fusion between viral envelopes and host cell membranes, which is mediated by special glycoproteins anchored on the viral membrane, is required for HIV viral entry and infection. The HIV gp41 fusion peptide (FP), which initiates membrane fusion, adopts either an α-helical or β-sheeted structure depending on the cholesterol concentration. We used phosphocholine spin labels on the lipid headgroup ...