In Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi (Lamb.) Carr.) calli, free sterol (FS), acylsterol (AS) and glycosylsterol, including the acylated type, were found in the proportion of 1.0:0.1:0.8. When the calli were cultured in the presence of 10 mM mevalonic acid (MVA), the content of AS, but not FS and glycosylsterol, was increased remarkably. The major component sterol in each sterol lipid class was us...

Human serum albumin and phospholipids can interact to cause a synergistic sterol release from mammalian cells in tissue culture. In the presence of the complexes formed between albumin and saturated phosphatidylcholine, release was twice as great as that which occurred with the unsaturated phospholipid complexes. Within the saturated series, sterol release increased with chain length until the ...

All but two genes involved in the ergosterol biosynthetic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been cloned, and their corresponding mutants have been described. The remaining genes encode the C-3 sterol dehydrogenase (C-4 decarboxylase) and the 3-keto sterol reductase and in concert with the C-4 sterol methyloxidase (ERG25) catalyze the sequential removal of the two methyl groups at the ste...

Oxysterol binding protein (OSBP) and many of its homologs transfer sterol in vitro, but in vivo, they are not major sterol transporters. In this issue of Structure, Tong and colleagues find that the yeast OSBP homolog, Osh3, binds PI(4)P but not sterol, supporting the view that PI(4)P regulation, not sterol transport, is the key activity for OSBP homologs.

Cholesterol is necessary for the proper growth and development of the fetus. Consequently, disruptions in cholesterol biosynthesis lead to abnormal fetal development. It has been shown that in cells exposed to polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), the expressions of genes and activities of enzymes involved in cholesterol synthesis are reduced. Similarly, we found that adult male hamsters fed PUFA...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Our previous study confirmed that Aloe sterol stimulates collagen and hyaluronic acid production in human dermal fibroblasts. This study aims to investigate whether Aloe sterol intake affects skin conditions. METHODS We performed a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the effects of oral Aloe sterol supplementation on skin elasticity, hydrati...

A series of LM cell variants resistant to filipin, but not auxotrophic for sterol, was isolated by plating mutagenized, filipin-treated cells on soft agar medium containing no sterol. Cloned variants were assayed for growth in the presence and absence of sterol or unsaturated fatty acid. Filipin-resistant clones whose growth rate was unaffected by the addition of sterol to the medium were furth...

This study examined the sterol compositions of 102 dinoflagellates using clustering and cluster validation techniques, as a means of determining the relatedness of the organisms. In addition, dinoflagellate sterol-based relationships were compared statistically to 18S rDNA-based phylogenetic relationships using the Mantel test. Our results indicated that the examined dinoflagellates formed six ...