New cationic polyprenyl derivative proposed as a lipofecting agent

Cationic linear poly-cis-isoprenoid prepared from natural plant polyprenol in a mixture with dioleyl phosphatidylethanolamine was found to be an effective lipofection agent for eukaryotic cells. The transfecting activity is related to the poly-cis structure of the polyprenyl chain

The tomato cis– prenyltransferase gene family

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96709/1/tpj12063-sup-0004-FigureS4.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96709/2/tpj12063-sup-0005-FigureS5.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96709/3/tpj12063-sup-0002-FigureS2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96709/4/tpj12063-sup-0003-FigureS3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96709/5/tpj12063-sup-0001-FigureS1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96709/6/tpj12063.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96709/7/tpj12063-sup-0006-TableS1.pd

Dolichol: A Component of the Cellular Antioxidant Machinery

Dolichol, an end product of the mevalonate pathway, has been proposed a biomarker of aging, but its biological role, not to mention its catabolism, has not been fully understood. UV-B radiation was used to induce oxidative stress in isolated rat hepatocytes by the collagenase method. Effects on dolichol, phospholipids-bound polyunsaturated fatty acids (PL PUFA) and known lipid soluble antioxidants [coenzyme Q (CoQ) and α-tocopherol] were studied. The increase in oxidative stress was detected by a probe sensitive to reactive oxygen species (ROS). Peroxidation of lipids was assessed by measuring the release of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Dolichol, CoQ and α-tocopherol were assessed by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), PL PUFA by gas-liquid chromatography (GC). UV-B radiation caused an immediate increase in ROS as well as lipid peroxidation and a simultaneous decrease in the levels of dolichol and lipid soluble antioxidants. Decrease in dolichol paralleled changes in CoQ levels and was smaller than that in α-tocopherol. The addition of mevinolin, a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase (HMG-CoAR), magnified the loss of dolichol and was associated with an increase in TBARS production. Changes in PL PUFA were minor. These findings highlight that oxidative stress has very early and similar effects on dolichol and lipid soluble antioxidants. Lower levels of dolichol are associated with enhanced peroxidation of lipids, which suggest that dolichol may have a protective role in the antioxidant machinery of cell membranes and perhaps be a key to understanding some adverse effects of statin therapy

Induction of androgenesis in white cabbage by means of anther cultures and isolated microspores

Badaniami objęto 47 różnych linii hodowlanych kapusty głowiastej białej, stosując dla każdego z genotypów dwie techniki: kultury pylników i izolowanych mikrospor. Stwierdzono, że około połowa badanych linii posiadała zdolność do tworzenia androgenicznych zarodków. Większość obiektów charakteryzowała się niską zdolnością do androgenezy. W kulturach pylników otrzymano od kilku do kilkudziesięciu zarodków na 100 pylników, a w kulturach mikrospor średnio 15 zarodków na 100 pąków. Porównanie obu technik wykazało, że w kulturach izolowanych mikrospor otrzymano 3-krotnie więcej zarodków niż gdy zastosowano kultury pylników. Liczba linii, u których obserwowano pozytywną androgeniczną odpowiedź, była podobna w przypadku obydwu metod. Przeżywalność zarodków kapusty umieszczonych bezpośrednio na pożywce regeneracyjnej była niska. W celu poprawienia tej cechy zastosowano modyfikację polegającą na poddaniu zarodków zabiegowi desykacji. Zabieg ten obniżał liczbę zarodków zamierających i nienormalnie rozwijających się, a zwiększał liczbę otrzymanych roślin około dwukrotnie.Induction of androgenesis was investigated in 47 breeding lines of white cabbage, using two techniques, i.e. anther and isolated microspore cultures. Approximately half of studied lines showed the ability to production of androgenic embryos. Most of them indicated low androgenic capability. Several to several tens embryos per 100 anthers were obtained from anther cultures, while 15 embryos per 100 buds were produced on average from isolated microspores. Comparison of both techniques showed that the isolated microspores produced approximately three times more embryos than the anther cultures. The number of entries positively responding to induction of androgenesis was similar in both methods. Survival rate of cabbage embryos placed directly on the conversion medium was low. In order to improve it, a modified technique, including embryo desiccation step, was applied. That treatment lowered the frequency of deteriorated and abnormally developed embryos and doubled the number of obtained plants

Regular paper on-line at: www.actabp.pl The search for polyprenols in dendroflora of Vietnam *+

The occurrence of polyprenols in leaves of over 340 species of dendroflora in natural habitats in the regions of Hanoi and Hue in Vietnam was studied. Plant material was collected in the late autumn (October/November) during the end of a vegetation season. Leaves of about 200 plant species did not contain detectable amounts of polyprenols in contrast to few systematic families, e.g. Moraceae, Euphorbiaceae, where polyprenols were highly abundant and their pattern could be used as a chemotaxonomic criterion. Most often dominating polyprenols were prenol-11 and prenol-12. In several angiosperm species prenol-13 and detectable amounts of prenol-14 were also found. The incidence of prenol-13 and-14 was not restricted to a specific taxonomic group since species exhibiting domination of such longer chain polyprenols belonged to various systematic families. In some plants (e.g. Ceiba pentandra) α-cis polyprenols were accompanied by α-trans counterparts. This report describes several new plant species that may serve as natural sources of long chain polyprenols

Analysis of plant polyisoprenoids

Polyisoprenoid alcohols are representatives of high-molecular terpenoids. Their hydrocarbon chains are built of 5 to more than 100 isoprene units giving rise to polymer molecules that differ in chain-length and/or geometrical configuration. Plants have been shown to accumulate diverse polyisoprenoid mixtures with tissue-specific composition. In this chapter, methods of analysis of polyisoprenoid alcohols in plant material are described, including isolation and purification of polyisoprenoids from plant tissue, fast semiquantitative analysis of the polyisoprenoid profile by thin-layer chromatography (straight phase adsorption and reversed phase partition techniques), and quantification of polyisoprenoids with the aid of high performance liquid chromatography. This approach results in full characterization of complex polyisoprenoid mixtures accumulated in various plant tissues and other matrixes

Polyisoprenol Specificity in the Campylobacter Jejuni N-linked Glycosylation Pathway

Campylobacter jejuni contains a general N-linked glycosylation pathway in which a heptasaccharide is sequentially assembled onto a polyisoprenyl-diphosphate carrier and subsequently transferred to the asparagine side chain of an acceptor protein. The enzymes in the pathway function at a membrane interface and have in common amphiphilic membrane-bound polyisoprenyl-linked substrates. Herein we examine the potential role of the polyisoprene component of the substrates by investigating the relative substrate efficiencies of polyisoprene-modified analogs in individual steps in the pathway. Chemically defined substrates for PglC, PglJ and PglB are prepared via semisynthetic approaches. The substrates included polyisoprenols of varying length, double bond geometry, and degree of saturation to probe the role of the hydrophobic polyisoprene in substrate specificity. Kinetic analysis reveals that all three enzymes exhibit distinct preferences for the polyisoprenol carrier whereby cis-double bond geometry and α-unsaturation of the native substrate are important features, while the precise polyisoprene length may be less critical. These finding suggest that the polyisoprenol carrier plays a specific role in the function of these enzymes beyond a purely physical role as a membrane anchor. These studies underscore the potential of the C. jejuni N-linked glycosylation pathway as a system for investigating the biochemical and biophysical roles of polyisoprenol carriers common to prokaryotic and eukaryotic glycosylation