These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Biosynthesis of squalene and cholesterol by cell-free extracts of adult rat brain.
    Author: Kelley MT, Aexel RT, Herndon BL, Nicholas HJ.
    Journal: J Lipid Res; 1969 Mar; 10(2):166-74. PubMed ID: 4305711.
    Abstract:
    Cell-free extracts of adult rat brain incubated with mevalonic acid-2-(14)C synthesize (14)C-labeled nonsaponifiable fractions consisting largely of squalene-(14)C. If the cofactor concentrations of the incubation medium are adjusted, much of the squalene can be induced to undergo turnover, with a resultant increase in (14)C-labeled digitonin-precipitable sterols, which include a small amount of cholesterol. The synthesis of labeled sterols is markedly increased in the presence of Mg(++) and depressed by nicotinamide. ATP, NADH, GSH, and glucose-6-phosphate are required for optimal synthesis of digitonin-precipitable material but, unlike Mg(++), are not essential. The cofactor-adjusted extracts also synthesize a complex ester mixture containing, in addition to cholesterol-(14)C, several compounds less polar than cholesterol. The biosynthesis of cholesterol in the extracts is a slow process; at least 12 hr of incubation is required for maximal sterol biosynthesis. A complex mixture of hydrocarbons accompanies squalene in the incubated extracts.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]