Study of Sterol Levels on the Transport of Amino Acids

Effects of Sterol Supplementation on Amino Acid Transport and Membrane Organization

Abstract

Ergosteroland cholesterol supplementation resulted in a significant increase (1-5- fold)in the sterol content while phospholipid remained unaffected in Microsporumgypseum. The levels of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholineincreased in ergosterol supplemented cells. However, a decrease inphosphatidylcholine and an increase in phosphatidylethanolamine was observed incholesterol grown cells. The ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acidsdecreased on ergosterol/cholesterol supplementation. The uptake of amino acids(lysine, glycine and aspartic acid) decreased in sterol supplemented cells.Studies with fluorescent probe l-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate showedstructural changes in membrane organisation as evident by increased number ofbinding sites in such cells..