Despite the presence of a cytosolic fatty acid synthesis pathway, mitochondria have retained their own means of creating fatty acids via the mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis (mtFASII) pathway. The reason for its conservation has not yet been elucidated. Therefore, to better understand the role of mtFASII in the cell, we used thin layer chromatography to characterize the contribution of the mt...

Repeated exposure to low doses of endotoxin results in progressive hyporesponsiveness to subsequent endotoxin challenge, a phenomenon known as endotoxin tolerance. In spite of its clinical significance in sepsis and characterization of the TLR4 signaling pathway as the principal endotoxin detection mechanism, the molecular determinants that induce tolerance remain obscure. We investigated the r...

BACKGROUND We previously showed that the fatty liver formations observed in overfed geese are accompanied by the activation of the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway and an increase in plasma insulin concentrations. Recent studies have suggested a crucial role for the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway in regulating lipid metabolism; therefore, we hypothesized that insulin affects goose hepatocellular lipid metabolism t...

Lipid in the intestine initiates feedback inhibition of proximal gastrointestinal function and food intake. In rats and humans, inhibition of gastric emptying is mediated, at least in part, by cholecystokinin (CCK)-A receptors, and in rats there is evidence for involvement of an intestinal vagal afferent pathway. The mechanism by which luminal lipid acts to release CCK or activate vagal afferen...

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked membrane protein with no cytosolic domain that localizes to lipid raft microdomains. Our laboratory and others have documented that lung fibroblasts from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) exhibit a hypermotile phenotype. This study was undertaken to elucidate the molecular mechanism...

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6 n-3) modulate immune responses and exert beneficial immunosuppressive effects, but the molecular mechanisms inhibiting T cell activation are not yet elucidated. Lipid rafts have been shown to play an important role in the compartmentalization and modulation of cell signaling. We investigate the role of DHA in modulati...

Import and assembly of mitochondrial proteins depend on a complex interplay of proteinaceous translocation machineries. The role of lipids in this process has been studied only marginally and so far no direct role for a specific lipid in mitochondrial protein biogenesis has been shown. Here we analyzed a potential role of phosphatidic acid (PA) in biogenesis of mitochondrial proteins in Sacchar...

Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) was used to elucidate host lipids involved in the inflammatory signaling pathway generated at the host-pathogen interface during a septic bacterial infection. Using Francisella novicida as a model organism, a bacterial lipid virulence factor (endotoxin) was imaged and identified along with host phospholipids involved in the splenic response in murine tissues. Her...

Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) has been suggested as a promising method alternative to drug-based therapies for treating osteoporosis (OP), but the role of PEMF in GIOP animal models still remains unknown. This study was performed to investigate the effect of PEMF on bone formation and lipid metabolism and further explored the several important components and targets of canonical Wnt signa...

Platycodin D (PLD), an effective triterpenesaponin extracted from Platycodon grandiflorum, has been known to have anti-inflammatory effect. In the present study, we investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of PLD on LPS-induced inflammation in primary rat microglia cells. The results showed that PLD significantly inhibited LPS-induced ROS, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β production in primary rat micro...