| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Mobarak, E., et al.
(författare)
-
Glucosylceramide modifies the LPS-induced inflammatory response in macrophages and the orientation of the LPS/TLR4 complex in silico
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 8
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is activated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which drives the production of proinflammatory cytokines. Earlier studies have indicated that cholesterol-and glycosphingolipid-rich subregions of the plasma membrane (lipid domains) are important for TLR4-mediated signaling. We report that inhibition of glucosylceramide (GluCer) synthase, which resulted in decreased concentrations of the glycosphingolipid GluCer in lipid domains, reduced the LPS-induced inflammatory response in both mouse and human macrophages. Atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the TLR4 dimer complex (with and without LPS in its MD-2 binding pockets) in membranes (in the presence and absence of GluCer) showed that: (1) LPS induced a tilted orientation of TLR4 and increased dimer integrity; (2) GluCer did not affect the integrity of the LPS/TLR4 dimer but reduced the LPS-induced tilt; and (3) GluCer increased electrostatic interactions between the membrane and the TLR4 extracellular domain, which could potentially modulate the tilt. We also showed that GCS inhibition reduced the interaction between TLR4 and the intracellular adaptor protein Mal. We conclude that the GluCer-induced effects on LPS/TLR4 orientation may influence the signaling capabilities of the LPS/TLR4 complex by affecting its interaction with downstream signaling proteins.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Patra, Michael, et al.
(författare)
-
Under the influence of alcohol: The effect of ethanol and methanol on lipid bilayers
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 1542-0086 .- 0006-3495. ; 90:4, s. 1121-1135
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Extensive microscopic molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study the effects of short-chain alcohols, methanol and ethanol, on two different fully hydrated lipid bilayer systems (POPC and DPPC) in the fluid phase at 323 K. It is found that ethanol has a stronger effect on the structural properties of the membranes. In particular, the bilayers become more fluid and permeable: ethanol molecules are able to penetrate through the membrane in typical timescales of similar to 200 ns, whereas for methanol that timescale is considerably longer, at least of the order of microseconds. A closer examination exposes a number of effects due to ethanol. Hydrogen-bonding analysis reveals that a large fraction of ethanols is involved in hydrogen bonds with lipids. This in turn is intimately coupled to the ordering of hydrocarbon chains: we find that binding to an ethanol decreases the order of the chains. We have also determined the dependence of lipid-chain ordering on ethanol concentration and found that to be nonmonotonous. Overall, we find good agreement with NMR and micropipette studies.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
