Once introduced in the organism, the interaction of nanoparticles with various biomolecules strongly impacts their fate. Here we show that nanoparticles made of the squalene derivative of gemcitabine (SQGem) interact with lipoproteins (LPs), indirectly enabling the targeting of cancer cells with high LP receptors expression. In vitro and in vivo experiments reveal preeminent affinity of the squ...

A trans-farnesyl pyrophosphate-squalene synthetase has been isolated in a soluble form from yeast extracts and purified 45fold. The molecular weight of the enzyme estimated from sucrose density gradient centrifugation and gel filtration chromatography is 426,000. Solubilization of the squalene synthetase is achieved with deoxycholate. Treatment with the detergent markedly lowers squalene synthe...

Given the rate at which humans shed their skin (desquamation), skin flakes that contain squalene and cholesterol are anticipated to be major constituents of indoor dust. These compounds have been detected in more than 97% of the dust samples collected from 500 bedrooms and 151 daycare centers of young children living in Odense, Denmark. The mass fractions of squalene in dust were approximately ...

Botryococcene biosynthesis is thought to resemble that of squalene, a metabolite essential for sterol metabolism in all eukaryotes. Squalene arises from an initial condensation of two molecules of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) to form presqualene diphosphate (PSPP), which then undergoes a reductive rearrangement to form squalene. In principle, botryococcene could arise from an alternative rearrang...

Human skin oil is rich in ozone-reactive constituents, including squalene and unsaturated acyl groups of free fatty acids, glycerols, wax esters. Squalene are each responsible...

It is not known in detail whether postprandial lipaemia is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) in women. To investigate this, we administered an oral vitamin A/squalene/fat meal to 24 post-menopausal women with angiographically proven CAD who were not taking hormone replacement therapy, and to 30 healthy controls (18 without and 12 with hormone replacement therapy) to evaluate the eff...

Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) is a multisystemic illness afflicting many Gulf War-era veterans. The molecular pathological basis for GWS has not been established. We sought to determine whether the presence of antibodies to squalene correlates with the presence of signs and symptoms of GWS. Participants in this blinded cohort study were individuals immunized for service in Desert Shield/Desert Storm ...

Previous studies have demonstrated that both the 105,000 X g soluble supernatant (S105) and microsomal membranes from rat liver are required for the enzymatic conversion of squalene to cholesterol (Scallen, T.J., Dean, W.J., and Schuster, M.W. (1968) J. Biol. Chem. 243, 5202). It was postulated that S105 contained a noncatalytic carrier protein which was required for this enzymatic process (Sca...

Specific lots of anthrax vaccine adsorbed administered to members of the U.S. Armed Forces have been alleged to contain squalene, a chemical purported to be associated with illnesses of Gulf War veterans. A method of enhanced sensitivity for determining squalene in anthrax vaccine adsorbed using high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection has been developed, validated...

Zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZE) is an enzyme operating in the violaxanthin cycle, which is involved in photoprotective mechanisms. In this work model systems to study zeaxanthin (Zx) epoxidation were developed. Two assay systems are presented in which epoxidation of Zx was observed. In these assays two mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana which have active only one of the two xanthophyll cycle enzymes wer...