Increase in fatty acids and flotillins upon resveratrol treatment of human breast cancer cells.

Flotillin-1 and flotillin-2 are highly conserved proteins that localize into cholesterol-rich microdomains in cellular membranes. Flotillins are closely related to the occurrence and development of various types of human cancers. Flotillin-1 is highly expressed in breast cancer, and the high expression level of flotillin-1 is significantly correlated with poorer patient survival. Here we studied the relationship between the formation of lipid rafts and the expression of flotillins and lipids in human breast cancer cells. We used the polyphenol compound resveratrol to alter the structure and function of the plasma membrane. Our data revealed an increase in fatty acids in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells upon resveratrol treatment. Interestingly, we also found an increase in the expression of both flotillin-1 and flotillin-2 in breast tumor cells after treatment. Resveratrol also induced changes in the pattern of flotillin distribution among detergent-resistant lipid rafts fractions in both cell lines and induced the nuclear translocation of flotillin-2. Since resveratrol has been pointed out as a putative cancer therapy agent, our results could have an impact on the understanding of the effects of resveratrol in tumor cells.

Fusion of the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial outer membrane in rats brown adipose tissue: activation of thermogenesis by Ca2+.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) mitochondria thermogenesis is regulated by uncoupling protein 1 (UCP 1), GDP and fatty acids. In this report, we observed fusion of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane with the mitochondrial outer membrane of rats BAT. Ca(2+)-ATPase (SERCA 1) was identified by immunoelectron microscopy in both ER and mitochondria. This finding led us to test the Ca(2+) effect in BAT mitochondria thermogenesis. We found that Ca(2+) increased the rate of respiration and heat production measured with a microcalorimeter both in coupled and uncoupled mitochondria, but had no effect on the rate of ATP synthesis. The Ca(2+) concentration needed for half-maximal activation varied between 0.08 and 0.11 microM. The activation of respiration was less pronounced than that of heat production. Heat production and ATP synthesis were inhibited by rotenone and KCN. Liver mitochondria have no UCP1 and during respiration synthesize a large amount of ATP, produce little heat, GDP had no effect on mitochondria coupling, Ca(2+) strongly inhibited ATP synthesis and had little or no effect on the small amount of heat released. These finding indicate that Ca(2+) activation of thermogenesis may be a specific feature of BAT mitochondria not found in other mitochondria such as liver.