Lysenin is a novel protein derived from coelomic fluid of the earthworm Eisenia foetida, which specifically recognizes sphingomyelin and induces cytolysis. The mechanism underlying lysenin-induced cell lysis has not been clarified. In this report we studied the interaction of lysenin with red blood cells as well as artificial liposomes. Our results showed that lysenin bound membranes and assembled to SDS-resistant oligomers in a sphingomyelin-dependent manner, leading to the formation of pores with a hydrodynamic diameter of ϳ3 nm. Antibody scanning analysis suggested that the Cterminal region of lysenin was exposed, whereas the N-terminal was hidden in the isolated oligomer complex. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed that lysenin interacted with both hydrophilic head group and hydrophobic hydrocarbon tails of sphingomyelin. Oligomerization but not binding was affected by the amide-linked fatty acid composition of sphingomyelin, suggesting the role of membrane fluidity in the oligomerization step.
Cholesterol-rich membrane domains function in various membrane events as diverse as signal transduction and membrane traffic. We studied the interaction of a fluorescein ester of polyethylene glycol-derivatized cholesterol (fPEG-Chol) with cholesterol-rich membranes both in cells and in model membranes. Unlike filipin and other cholesterol probes, this molecule could be applied as an aqueous dispersion to various samples. When added to live cells, fPEG-Chol distributed exclusively in the outer plasma membrane leaflet and was enriched in microdomains that dynamically clustered by the activation of receptor signaling. The surface-bound fPEG-Chol was slowly internalized via clathrin-independent pathway into endosomes together with lipid raft markers. Noteworthy, fPEG-Chol could be microinjected in the living cells in which we found Golgi apparatus as the sole major organelle to be labeled. PEG-Chol, thus, provides a novel, sensitive probe for unraveling the dynamics of cholesterol-rich microdomains in living cells.
Sphingolipids and their metabolites are known to modulate various cellular events including proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) is the enzyme that catalyzes the first step of the biosynthesis of all sphingolipids. Here, we report that a newly identified antibiotic, sulfamisterin, derived from the fungus Pycnidiella sp., is a specific inhibitor of SPT. The chemical structure of sulfamisterin resembles both that of sphingosine as well as a potent inhibitor of SPT, ISP-1 (myriocin). Sulfamisterin inhibited SPT activity with IC(50) = 3 nM in a cell-free lysate prepared from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) fibroblasts. Sulfamisterin markedly inhibited the biosynthesis of sphingolipids in living CHO cells and in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as monitored by radioactive precursors. Unlike the cell-free experiments, 10 microM sulfamisterin was required for complete inhibition of sphingolipid biosynthesis in intact cells. We also synthesized a series of structural analogues of sulfamisterin and examined their activities both in cell-free and in living cell systems.
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