scholarly journals Exchange of sterols between myelin and other membranes of developing rat brain

1971 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 751-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. L. Banik ◽  
A. N. Davison

1. The effect of inhibition of cholesterol synthesis by a hypocholesterolaemic drug (AY-9944) was studied in rat brain during development. 2. At 2 weeks after administration of AY-9944 to young rats 7-dehydrocholesterol accounted for half the total sterol of myelin and other subcellular components. 3. At 4 weeks after injection of the drug 7-dehydrocholesterol had disappeared whereas the cholesterol content of myelin had increased by an equivalent amount. Our studies show that purified myelin has low 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase activity and suggest that 7-dehydrocholesterol is largely converted into cholesterol outside the myelin sheath. 4. Resultant cholesterol may be re-incorporated into myelin by an exchange process. 5. The metabolism of sterols in developing brain is discussed.

1979 ◽  
Vol 182 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
W A Maltese ◽  
J J Volpe

The specific activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase increases when homogenates of developing rat brain are incubated at 37 degrees C or kept on ice. This increase is completely blocked by the addition of F- to the homogenization medium and the assay mixture. The capacity for activation of the reductase is greatest during the early postnatal period and declines as brain maturation proceeds. The data suggest that catalytic modification of the reductase may play a role in the regulation of cholesterol synthesis in the developing brain.


1973 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1021-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. L. Banik ◽  
A. N. Davison

2020 ◽  
Vol 477 (14) ◽  
pp. 2715-2720
Author(s):  
Susana Castro-Obregón

The nuclear envelope is composed by an outer nuclear membrane and an inner nuclear membrane, which is underlain by the nuclear lamina that provides the nucleus with mechanical strength for maintaining structure and regulates chromatin organization for modulating gene expression and silencing. A layer of heterochromatin is beneath the nuclear lamina, attached by inner nuclear membrane integral proteins such as Lamin B receptor (LBR). LBR is a chimeric protein, having also a sterol reductase activity with which it contributes to cholesterol synthesis. Lukasova et al. showed that when DNA is damaged by ɣ-radiation in cancer cells, LBR is lost causing chromatin structure changes and promoting cellular senescence. Cellular senescence is characterized by terminal cell cycle arrest and the expression and secretion of various growth factors, cytokines, metalloproteinases, etc., collectively known as senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) that cause chronic inflammation and tumor progression when they persist in the tissue. Therefore, it is fundamental to understand the molecular basis for senescence establishment, maintenance and the regulation of SASP. The work of Lukasova et al. contributed to our understanding of cellular senescence establishment and provided the basis that lead to the further discovery that chromatin changes caused by LBR reduction induce an up-regulated expression of SASP factors. LBR dysfunction has relevance in several diseases and possibly in physiological aging. The potential bifunctional role of LBR on cellular senescence establishment, namely its role in chromatin structure together with its enzymatic activity contributing to cholesterol synthesis, provide a new target to develop potential anti-aging therapies.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 643-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anjana Mazumder ◽  
Kamal Das ◽  
Pranab K. Sarkar

The effect of T3 (triiodothyronine) on the induction of tubulin in hypothyroid developing rat brain has been examined using organ cultures of brains from late fetal, neonatal and postnatalrats. The neonatal brain displayed maximum sensitivity to T3. Hypothyroidism resulted in a 26% decline in the level of tubulin in the neonatal brain as opposed to a 5–15% decline in the fetal or postnatal brain. Exposure of the hypothyroi d neonatal brain to T3 for 2 h in culture led to a 61% rise in the level of tubulin in contrast to a 41% increase seen in the case of normal brain. Total protein synthesis was not significantly affected. The preferential decline of tubulin in the neonatal hypothyroid brain, its enhanced sensitivity to T3 compared to normal brain, and the coincidence of the period of sensitivity to that of brain maturation indicate that the regulation of the level of tubulin by T3 in the developing brain is a natural ontogenic phenomenon.


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