Membrane lipids protection

Vitamin E (tocopherol) is the most important antioxidant in the body, acting in the lipid phase of membranes and protecting against the effects of free radicals. Vitamin K functions as cofactor to a carboxylase that acts on glutamate residues of clotting factor precursor proteins to enable them to chelate calcium. 

Because the carotenoids favour hydrophobic domains they are generally localised in the membranes and lipoproteins of animal cells. In this location they can influence the oxidation of membrane lipids and prevent the passage of free radicals from one cellular compartment to another. Thus, DNA in the nucleus is protected from intracellularly generated ROS by (at least) the nuclear membrane and from extracellular ROS by a number of membranes. Should ROS reach the nucleus, base oxidation can occur. The base most susceptible to oxidation is guanine, although all other bases can also be affected. The cell has the ability to detect damaged bases, excise them. 

E (a-tocopherol) Antioxidant in the hpid phase. Protects membrane lipids from peroxidation and helps prevent oxidation of LDL particles thought to be involved in atherosclerotic plaque formation... 

A cell is enclosed by a lipid bilayer known as the plasma membrane. In Vignette 1.2 in Chapter 1 we discussed an example of a membrane, a complex structure with a mosaic of embedded or adsorbed moieties such as proteins. It is these membranes that protect the intracellular contents from the exterior environment of the cells and regulate the transport of materials into and out of the cells. They can also act as signal transducers and control the electrical excitation in the nervous system by altering the (membrane) permeability to particular ions in response to stimuli. Such electrical activities can propagate over long distances and represent one of the most spectacular of the membrane functions. 

This cascade however may be propagated throughout the cell unless terminated by a protective mechanism (see below) or a chemical reaction such as disproportionation, which gives rise to a non-radical product. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, found particularly in membranes, are especially susceptible to free radical attack. The effects of lipid peroxidation are many and various. Clearly, the structural integrity of membrane lipids will be adversely affected. In the lipid radical produced, the sites of unsaturation may change, thereby altering the fluidity of the membrane (see chap. 3). Lipid radicals may interact with other lipids and... 

Although the acute vasodilator effects, as shown in in vitro studies (see above), may participate in the antihypertensive effects, the reduced blood pressure persisted even 42-48 h after the last administration of quercetin, when the plasma quercetin concentration and its metabolites fell bellow 25% of the peak post-administration levels [43]. Furthermore, the antihypertensive effects of quercetin did not appear to be related to its antioxidant properties since quercetin did not lower the urinary isoprostane F20 excretion, a prostaglandin-like compound produced in a non enzymatic reaction of arachidonic acid in membrane lipids and superoxide, which is currently used as a reliable marker of oxidative stress. The mechanisms involved in the antihypertensive effects and protection from organ damage... 

For sensors in contact with blood, not only must the membrane not be fouled in the complex matrix of proteins and lipids, but also the membrane must protect the transducer from fouling. 

While the flavonoids suppress oxygen uptake in isolated mitochondria and oxygen evolution from chloroplasts, there has been too little work to establish these organelle effects as the only mechanisms of action. Flavonoids are known to protect membrane lipids against destructive reactions and, based on current evidence, these compounds do not readily fit the model of Figure 11.2. The flavonol rutin did not show an effect on soybean seedling water relations.64 It is... 

In addition to its limited role as a storage form of carbon, inulin is thought to be more widely involved in membrane protection during dehydration of many species (Vereyken et al 2003). The interaction of inulin with membrane lipids in a model system was found to be chain length dependent. Inulin-type fructans had a more pronounced interaction with the membrane lipids than... 

Thus, in vitamin E deficiency, selenium has a beneficial effect in lowering the concentrations of alkylperoxyl radicals, and conversely, in selenium deficiency, vitamin E has a protective effect in reducing the radicals. When selenium is adequate, but vitamin E is deficient, tissues with low activity of glutathione peroxidase [e.g., the central nervous system and (rat) placenta] are especially susceptible to lipid peroxidation, whereas tissues with high activity of glutathione peroxidase are not. Conversely, with adequate vitamin E and inadequate selenium, membrane lipid peroxidation will be inhibited, but tissues with high peroxide production and low catalase activity will still be at risk from peroxidative damage, especially to sulfhydryl proteins. 

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