Topic
Sterol
About: Sterol is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8117 publications have been published within this topic receiving 309926 citations. The topic is also known as: sterols & sterol lipids.
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TL;DR: The lipid and carbohydrate metabolism of Giardia lamblia was studied using trophozoites isolated from a human and axenically grown in vitro in medium containing fetal bovine serum to suggest that it is incapable of synthesizing cellular phospholipids or sterols de novo, but rather, utilize lipids already present in the medium.
116 citations
TL;DR: The experiments reveal that FK and HYD1 act sequentially, whereas CPH acts independently of these genes to produce essential sterols, which implies that the sterol biosynthesis pathway is not a simple linear pathway but a complex network of enzymes that produce essential steroid molecules for plant growth and development.
Abstract: The sterol biosynthesis pathway of Arabidopsis produces a large set of structurally related phytosterols including sitosterol and campesterol, the latter being the precursor of the brassinosteroids (BRs). While BRs are implicated as phytohormones in post-embryonic growth, the functions of other types of steroid molecules are not clear. Characterization of the fackel (fk) mutants provided the first hint that sterols play a role in plant embryogenesis. FK encodes a sterol C-14 reductase that acts upstream of all known enzymatic steps corresponding to BR biosynthesis mutants. Here we report that genetic screens for fk-like seedling and embryonic phenotypes have identified two additional genes coding for sterol biosynthesis enzymes: CEPHALOPOD (CPH), a C-24 sterol methyl transferase, and HYDRA1 (HYD1), a sterol C-8,7 isomerase. We describe genetic interactions between cph, hyd1 and fk, and studies with 15-azasterol, an inhibitor of sterol C-14 reductase. Our experiments reveal that FK and HYD1 act sequentially, whereas CPH acts independently of these genes to produce essential sterols. Similar experiments indicate that the BR biosynthesis gene DWF1 acts independently of FK, whereas BR receptor gene BRI1 acts downstream of FK to promote post-embryonic growth. We found embryonic patterning defects in cph mutants and describe a GC-MS analysis of cph tissues which suggests that steroid molecules in addition to BRs play critical roles during plant embryogenesis. Taken together, our results imply that the sterol biosynthesis pathway is not a simple linear pathway but a complex network of enzymes that produce essential steroid molecules for plant growth and development.
116 citations
TL;DR: The effect of salt concentration on sterols yields has been studied varying the quantities of NaCl into culture medium, with good yields of total sterols achieved at lower salt concentration, while an increase in salt concentration resulted in a significant decrease in total sterol yield.
116 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that while methyl jasmonate may be used as an inducer of enzymes involved in the triterpenoid synthesis downstream from 2,3-oxidosqualene in both C. asiatica and G. glauca, in the case of R. aculeatus it inhibited the enzyme involved in sterol synthesis upstream from cycloartenol.
116 citations
TL;DR: Cholesterol isolated chromatographically from liver processed as outlined above has been identified unequivocally by mass spectrometry and a remarkable quality of fine-structural preservation is obtained.
Abstract: A major methodological problem in the intracellular localization of cholesterol is the nearly complete extraction of sterols during routine dehydration and embedding procedures for electron microscopy. Cholesterol digitonide (a sterol complex with digitonin), however, is qualitatively insoluble in these solvents. Mouse liver has been prepared as follows: (a) Flickinger's aldehyde fixative, 20 hr; (b) Flickinger's fixative containing 0.2% digitonin, 24 hr; (c) cacodylate wash, 24 hr; (d) 1% OsO(4), 2 hr; (e) acetone dehydration; and (f) Epon 812 infiltration under vacuum, 28 hr. After the last step, an analysis of the tissue for sterol content under optimal analytical conditions demonstrates a retention of 99% of the unesterified cholesterol present in unfixed mouse liver. Liver prepared in an identical manner except for omission of digitonin is essentially devoid of sterols. Cholesterol isolated chromatographically from liver processed as outlined above has been identified unequivocally by mass spectrometry. Liver from step (f) also has been polymerized, thin-sectioned, and examined in the electron microscope. A remarkable quality of fine-structural preservation is obtained. The major alteration encountered is the presence of small cylindrical "spicules," often occurring as tightly packed concentric lamellae, at membrane surfaces.
116 citations