Abstract

FALOMIR-LOCKHART, Lisandro Jorge et al. Structure-function analysis of soluble lipid binding proteins from intestine and liver. Acta bioquím. clín. latinoam. [online]. 2013, vol.47, n.2, pp.307-314. ISSN 0325-2957.

After ingestion, the epithelium of the small intestine is responsible for assimilating large amounts of nutrients such as amino acids, sugars and fatty acids. Soluble lipid binding proteins fulfill a determining role in this process, especially protecting the tissue integrity against the detergent-like effect of fatty acids from the diet. Two proteins that bind long-chain fatty acids are expressed in enterocytes, IFABP and LFABP, whose specific functions are still poorly understood, or the reason for the need of two apparently equivalent proteins. Our laboratory has focused on the comparative study of these two proteins using structural variants and biochemical, biophysical, and molecular and cellular biology approaches. Thus, the molecular determinants responsible for the interaction with membranes were defined for each protein, their ligand transfer mechanism and the factors that modulate these properties. More recently, these assays have been extended to cell culture studies which correlate the expression of these proteins with cytokine secretion, cell proliferation and differentiation. The study of these proteins is of great importance due to their potential as therapeutic targets and their usefulness in the diagnosis of tissue injury.

Keywords : Soluble lipid binding proteins; Fatty acid metabolism; Intestinal epithelium; Fluorescence.

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