24-Ethyl,24-methyl-29-nor-lanostanes from leaves of Freycinetia formosana.
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Two new 24-ethyl,24-methyl-29-nor-lanostanes (1, 2) were isolated from the MeOH extract of leaves of Freycinetia formosana (Pandanaceae). Their structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic evidence. (+info)
Effects of FoxO4 overexpression on cholesterol biosynthesis, triacylglycerol accumulation, and glucose uptake.
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4,4'-dimethylcholesta-7,9,14-trienol is an intermediate in the demethylation of dihydroagnosterol.
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1. 4,4'-Dimethylcholesta-7,9,14-trienol is an intermediate in the metabolism of dihydroagnosterol to cholesterol by rat liver homogenate. 2. This triene is reduced by a rat liver microsomal preparation in the presence of NADPH to give 4,4'-dimethylcholesta-7,9-dienol under anaerobic conditions. 3. Reduction of the triene in the presence of [4-3H2]NADPH resulted in the incorporation of 3H into the product. 4. Under aerobic conditions the triene is converted into cholesterol by a rat liver homogenate. (+info)
Alterations of cholesterol precursor levels in Alzheimer's disease.
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Ganoderic acid T inhibits tumor invasion in vitro and in vivo through inhibition of MMP expression.
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The traditional Chinese medicinal mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum, has been used in Asia for several thousand years for the prevention and treatment of a variety of diseases, including cancer. In previous work, we purified ganoderic acid T (GA-T) from G. lucidum [28]. In the present study, we investigate the functions of GA-T in terms of its effects on invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo. A trypan blue dye exclusion assay indicates that GA-T inhibits proliferation of HCT-116 cells, a human colon carcinoma cell line. Cell aggregation and adhesion assays show that GA-T promotes homotypic aggregation and simultaneously inhibits the adhesion of HCT-116 cells to the extracellular matrix (ECM) in a dose-dependent manner.Wound healing assays indicate that GA-T also inhibits the migration of HCT-116 cells in a dose-dependent manner, and it suppresses the migration of 95-D cells, a highly metastatic human lung tumor cell line, in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, GA-T inhibits the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and the degradation of inhibitor of kappaB-alpha (IkappaBalpha), which leads to down-regulated expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). Animal and Lewis Lung Carcinoma (LLC) model experiments demonstrate that GA-T suppresses tumor growth and LLC metastasis and down-regulates MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA expression in vivo. Taken together, these results demonstrate that GA-T effectively inhibits cancer cell invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo, and thus it may act as a potential drug for treating cancer. (+info)
Effect of cholesterol and lanosterol on the structure and dynamics of the cell membrane of Mycoplasma capricolum. Deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance study.
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Deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques were employed to study the effect of sterols on the composition and dynamics of the membrane lipids of Mycoplasma capricolum, a natural fatty acid auxotroph that requires sterols for growth. The membrane lipids of cells grown in modified Edwards medium supplemented with cholesterol, oleic acid (OA), and palmitic acid (PA) were composed primarily of phosphatidylglycerol (PG) (60%) and cardiolipin (CL) (35%). The incorporation of cholesterol and the cellular OA/PA ratio increased nonlinearly with increases in exogenous cholesterol level, whereas the levels of phospholipid increased only slightly. At the growth temperature, 37 degrees C, the residual deuterium quadrupole splittings were found to be 43-46 kHz for cells grown with (7,7,8,8-2H4) PA and 1.25 micrograms/ml (30 mol%) to 10 micrograms/ml (50 mol%) cholesterol, respectively, similar to that found in the cholesterol/lecithin binary dispersions of similar cholesterol contents. Deuterium T2e of these samples were found to be 170 +/- 10 microseconds and were independent of cellular cholesterol content. In comparison, T2e of the corresponding lipid extracts were longer (320-420 microseconds) and dependent on cholesterol content. Thus, lipid-protein interactions in the cell membrane is the dominant mechanism responsible for the reduced T2e. At lower temperatures, spectra indicative of the coexistence of gel and liquid-crystalline states were observed for cells having low cholesterol levels. For both cell membrane and membrane lipid extract containing 50 mol% cholesterol, T2e was found to be constant at the temperature range from 15 to 40 degrees C. On the other hand, T2e of cell membrane containing 30 mol% cholesterol decreased linearly at 3.2 microseconds/degrees C. T2e of the corresponding lipid extract showed much stronger temperature variation. Cells containing 39 mol% lanosterol were found to have a quadrupole splitting of 39 kHz, broader than that of the cholesterol-free lecithin dispersion (less than 30 kHz) but less than that of cell membrane containing 30 mol% cholesterol (43 kHz). T2e of the lanosterol sample was found to be 130 +/- 10 microseconds which decreased linearly at a slope similar to that observed for the low cholesterol sample. Therefore, although lanosterol appeared to be capable of modulating cell membrane physical properties it is less effective than cholesterol. When growth rates were correlated with NMR parameters, we found that the membranes of faster growing cells were also more ordered. In contrast, the T2e of the cells of M. capricolum seemed to be maintained at a relatively constant value around 170 microseconds. (+info)
Cloning, mechanistic and functional analysis of a fungal sterol C24-methyltransferase implicated in brassicasterol biosynthesis.
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