Composición lipídica de la membrana mitocondrial interna del músculo de Ascaris suum / Lipidic Composition of Inner Mitochondrial Membrane from Ascaris suum

Las proteínas y los lípidos juegan un rol importante en la estructura y función de las membranas celulares y subcelulares. Diversos investigadores han estudiado acerca de los lípidos que componen la membrana mitocondrial de muchos organismos y han encontrado principalmente fosfolípidos (cardiolipina, fosfatidiletanolamina, fosfatidilserina) y colesterol. La composición lipídica de la membrana mitocondrial interna (mmi) de ningún helminto se ha determinado hasta ahora. Ascaris suum, parásito helminto que habita el intestino delgado del cerdo y metaboliza los carbohidratos hasta ácidos grasos de cadena corta en condiciones anaeróbicas, ha sido utilizado como modelo en estudios de bioquímica comparativa. En este estudio, se aisló mediante centrifugación diferencial en sacarosa, la fracción mitocondrial del músculo de Ascaris y luego se separó la mmi por centrifugación en presencia de fosfato de potasio 10mM. La fracción de lípidos de la mmi fue extraída por el método de Folch y aplicada en cromatoplacas para Cromatografía en Capa Fina (CCF). Mediante ensayos enzimáticos para la determinación indirecta de colesterol y triacilglicéridos, y con CCF se encontró que colesterol, fosfolípidos y otro lípido no identificado, están presentes en la membrana interna de la mitocondria del parásito. La fracción de fosfolípidos separada por CCF fue extraída de la sílica gel con cloroformo: metanol: H2O (30:50:20) y analizada en Cromatografía de Gases (CG) para determinar su composición en ácidos grasos. Los ácidos oleico, palmítico, linoleico y esteárico se encontraron en: 8,38; 7,98; 6,39 y 6,28%, respectivamente. Otros ácidos como el linolénico y mirístico, estaban en menor proporción (1,65 y 0,50%, respectivamente), similar a lo reportado en otras investigaciones referidas a la composición lipídica mitocondrial de otros organismos, lo que sugiere un papel importante de estos ácidos grasos para la función mitocondrial.

The lipids and proteins play an important role in cellular and subcellular membranes structure and function. Several researchers have studied mitochondrial membrane lipids from many organisms, observing mainly phospholipids (cardiolipin, phosphatidilethanolamine, phosphatidilserine) and cholesterol. The lipidic composition of inner mitochondrial membrane (mmi) of none helminthes has been determinate. Ascaris suum, one helminthe parasite that inhabits the small intestine of pig and metabolizes carbohydrates to short chain volatile fatty acids of in aerobic conditions, has been used as a model in comparative biochemistry studies. In this study, the mitochondrial fraction from Ascaris muscle was isolated by means of differential centrifugation in sucrose and the mmi was separated by centrifugation in 10mM Potassium Phosphate. The mmi lipidic fraction was extracted by Folch method and applied on plate for Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC). By mean of indirect enzymatic assays for cholesterol and triglycerides determination, and with TLC, cholesterol, phospholipid and other unknown lipid were found in parasite inner membrane. The fraction of phospholipids separated by TLC was extracted from silica gel with chlorophorm: methanol: H2O (30:50:20) and analyzed by Gas Chromatography (GC) to determine fatty acids composition. Oleic, palmitic, linoleic and stearic acid were present in 8.38; 7.98; 6.39 and 6.28%, respectively. Others acids as linolenic and miristic were found in minor proportion (1.65 and 0.50%), in concordance with reports of researches about mitochondrial lipidic composition in other organisms that suggests an important role of these fatty acids in mitochondrial function.

Role of glypican-1 in the trophic activity on PC12 cells induced by cultured sciatic nerve conditioned medium: identification of a glypican-1-neuregulin complex.

Glypican-1 is an extracellular matrix component found by microsequencing in a medium conditioned by cultured rat-sciatic nerves (CM). This CM was concentrated by ultrafiltration and fractionated by quaternary ammonium chromatography, followed by Hi-Trap blue affinity chromatography to obtain the active fraction B1.2. Previously, we have reported a 54 kDa neuregulin (NRG) in the same B1.2 fraction [Villegas et al., Brain Res. 852 (2001) 304]. The effect of Glypican-1 on the neuron-like differentiation of PC12 cells was investigated by immunoprecipitation, Western blot and cellular image analysis. Removal of glypican-1 by immunoprecipitation with increasing concentrations of specific antibodies revealed a gradual decrease of the differentiation activity of fraction B1.2, which paralleled the results obtained by removal of the 54 kDa NRG protein. Colorless native electrophoresis and Western blot analysis was used to identify a glypican-1-NRG protein complex, which could be afterwards separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis into its individual components. Additionally, it was demonstrated that glypican-1, in cooperation with the 54 kDa NRG, is involved in the neuronal-like differentiation of PC12 cells and could play an important role on the regeneration responses of peripheral nerves.