We have analyzed the effects of different native membrane lipid composition on the thermodynamic properties of the Na+-K+-ATPase in different epithelia from the gilthead seabream Sparus aurata. Thermodynamic parameters of activation for the Na+-K+-ATPase, as well as contents of lipid classes and fatty acids from polar lipids were determined for gill epithelia and enterocytes isolated from pylor...

The glycoconjugates sugar residues content, distribution and changes in the enterocytes of different tracts of the developing intestine of the chick embryo and of 1-day-old chick were investigated, using a battery of seven HRP-conjugated lectins (DBA, SBA, PNA, WGA, ConA, LTA and UEAI). The results of the present research have shown the presence of a large amount of glycoconjugates sugar residu...

During the digestive-tract phase of infection, poliovirus (PV) is found in the oropharynx and the intestine. It has been proposed that PV enters the organism by crossing M cells, which are scattered in the epithelial sheet covering lymphoid follicles of Peyer's patches. However, PV translocation through M cells has never been demonstrated. A model of M-like cells has been previously developed u...

BACKGROUND Absorption of non-haeme iron occurs mainly in the duodenum. It involves the divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) in the uptake of ferrous Fe(II) iron and the basolateral transporter ferroportin/IREG-1/MTP-1/SLC40A1 in its release. Whether ferroportin functions in this process at other sites in the enterocyte is unknown. In this study the effect of a blocking antibody to ferroportin on...

We have studied the M cell origin and differentiation pathway in rabbit gut-associated lymphoid tissues. Micro-dissected domes and epithelium isolated by ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid detachment allowed us to view the whole epithelial surface from the bottom of crypts to the top of domes. We used monoclonal antibodies specific to the apex of either M cells or dome enterocytes, lectins, and...

1. The recent recognition of the metabolic, as opposed to absorptive, functions of the small intestine prompted efforts the improve the preparation of metabolically competent columnar absorptive cells ('enterocytes') and to study their metabolic properties. 2. With this preparation, linear rates of O2 consumption are obtained for 40 min at 37 degrees C that are more than 50% higher than rates r...

High conductance Ca(+)-activated K(+) channels (BK channels) have previously been demonstrated in the eel intestine. They are specifically activated following a hypotonic stress and sustain Regulatory Volume Decrease (RVD). The aim of the present work was to address the possible role of these channels in the Apoptotic Volume Decrease (AVD) of isolated eel enterocytes, and the possible interacti...