The functions of steryl glycosides come to those who wait: Recent advances in plants, fungi, bacteria and animals
The attachment of a sugar moiety to the 3-hydroxy group of a sterol drastically increases the size of the hydrophilic part of the lipid. It is obvious that the glycosylation of a considerable fraction of membrane-bound free sterols alters the biophysical properties of the membrane. However, the cons...
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Published in | Progress in lipid research Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 262 - 288 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Elsevier Ltd
01.07.2010
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The attachment of a sugar moiety to the 3-hydroxy group of a sterol drastically increases the size of the hydrophilic part of the lipid. It is obvious that the glycosylation of a considerable fraction of membrane-bound free sterols alters the biophysical properties of the membrane. However, the consequences of such changes in the proportions of free sterols and steryl glycosides on the biological functions of a membrane are still unclear. This is the main hurdle in understanding the biological functions of steryl glycosides on a molecular level. The recent cloning of sterol glycosyltransferase genes from plants, fungi and bacteria has enabled genetic approaches to analyze steryl glycoside functions. Down regulation of phytosteryl β-glycoside biosynthesis in
Arabidopsis thaliana causes several dysfunctions in seed development. Ergosteryl β-glycoside depleted mutants of the yeast
Pichia pastoris lose their ability to degrade their peroxisomes by an autophagic mechanism called micropexophagy. In the plant-pathogenic fungus
Colletotrichum orbiculare the same defect impairs invasion of the cucumber host plants.
Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium colonizing the human stomach, is unable to modulate the host’s immune response when the cholesteryl α-glycoside biosynthesis of the bacterium is mutated. These mutants with manipulated steryl glycoside metabolism will inspire further studies with cell biological, biophysical and other methods that will provide us with a mechanistic understanding of steryl glycoside functions. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 |
ISSN: | 0163-7827 1873-2194 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.plipres.2010.02.001 |