On Apr 4, 9:30 am, "ironjust...@aol.com" <ironjust...@aol.com> wrote:
choline <<

Allergic Response Tied to Lipid Molecules in Cell Membrane

7 March 2008--A team of Penn State University researchers is the
first
to demonstrate that lipid molecules in cell membranes participate in
mammals' reactions to allergens in a living cell.  The finding will
help scientists better understand how allergy symptoms are triggered,
and could contribute to the creation of improved drugs to treat them.
The work will be reported in the 14 March issue of the Journal of
Biological Chemistry.

The team studied clusters of cholesterol-rich lipid molecules that
they believe serve as platforms for the receptors that receive
antibodies, the proteins that protect the body from allergens.  In
this case, the team examined IgE antibodies, which upon binding to
their receptors initiate a cell's release of histamine--the substance
that causes the unpleasant, but beneficial, mucous production,
congestion, and itchiness associated with allergies.  "This research
is basically the molecular foundation for why many people sneeze in
the spring," said Ahmed Heikal, an associate professor in the
Department of Bioengineering and a leader of the project.

While the idea that lipid clusters--also known as lipid domains--are
involved in the allergic response is not new, the Penn State team is
the first to document this connection in a living cell under
physiological conditions.  "No one has observed the domains in action
because they are too small and too transient--held together by very
weak molecular interactions--to be viewed with a light microscope,"
said Erin Sheets, a Penn State assistant professor of chemistry who
also is a leader of the project.  "To overcome this challenge," added
Heikal, "we used a combination of imaging and spectroscopy techniques
that we are developing in our laboratories.

In their experiment, the researchers first labeled the cell membrane
and IgE antibodies with two different fluorescent tags.  Next, they
introduced an allergen and watched as it bound to receptors on the
cell membrane, thus initiating an allergic response.

But to demonstrate that this activity was taking place within the
lipid domain, the researchers had to take advantage of a property of
fluorescence, called fluorescence lifetime, in which molecules are
excited with very short laser pulses.  The length of time a molecule
remains in its excited state before emitting a photon--the
fluorescence lifetime--provides unique information about the
fluorescently-labeled molecule's environment and its chemical
structure.  For example, a particular molecule might relax to its
lowest-energy state quickly or slowly depending on whether it is
exposed to a solvent.

Nanostructural changes in the plasma membrane occur upon antigen
stimulation.
"We previously showed that our fluorescently-labeled membrane probe
has a longer lifetime within a cholesterol-rich lipid domain," said
Sheets.  "Here we show that changes in this lifetime follow the
changes that occur during the first steps in the allergic response
process.  Our results also show that lipid domains in the cell
membrane associate with IgE antibodies and their receptors in the
initial stages of an allergic reaction."

In the future, Sheets and Heikal plan to apply the team's discoveries
to a project involving aging.  During the aging process, T cells,
which protect the body from foreign substances like viruses and
cancer
cells, can lose their ability to signal effectively.  Sheets and
Heikal plan to use these fluorescence-lifetime imaging tools to
examine the structure and integrity of T-cell membranes with a goal
of
determining why they lose their knack for signalling and how this
problem can be corrected.

"We want to compare the effectiveness of signaling in young T cells,
which clear out debris quickly, to old T cells, which are not as
efficient," said Sheets. "I think it will be a pretty cool
application
of our technique."

Other Penn State scientists who contributed to this research include
Angel Davey and Keith Krise, both Ph.D. students in the Department of
Chemistry.  The work was funded by Penn State, the National Science
Foundation, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the American Chemical
Society, and the National Institutes of Health.
Erin Sheets: (+1) 814-863-0044, ed...@psu.edu
Ahmed Heikal: (+1) 814-865-8093, aa...@psu.edu
Barbara Kennedy (PIO): (+1) 814-863-4682, scie...@psu.edu
--------------------------
So what **difference** would there BE in the processing of the
hops ..
"hop water extraction (HWE) has anti-allergic effects " .. and ..
"this activity was not observed for the hot water extract from the
hops." .. ?

'Something' is .. missing .. and that something is the inhibitor of
the allergic response .. LOST .. to the process of extraction .. to
'heat' .. ?

Presentation Number: 191-18
Abstract Division: Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods
Presentation Start/End Time: Tuesday, Jul 31, 2007, 2:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Author Information: Yoshihisa Wakita, Frontier Laboratories of Value
Creation, Sapporo breweries LTD., Yaizu, Japan; Yoshihiro Takata,
Frontier Laboratories of Value Creation, Sapporo breweries LTD.,
Yaizu, Japan; Syuuichi Segawa, Frontier Laboratories of Value
Creation, Sapporo breweries LTD., Yaizu, Japan; Yasukazu Nakakita,
Frontier Laboratories of Value Creation, Sapporo breweries LTD.,
Yaizu, Japan; Hirotaka Kaneda, Frontier Laboratories of Value
Creation, Sapporo breweries LTD., Yaizu, Japan; Junji Watari,
Frontier
Laboratories of Value Creation, Sapporo breweries LTD., Yaizu, Japan;
Tatsuko Enomoto, Enomoto ENT Clinic, Wakayama, Japan; Tadao Enomoto,
Japanese Red Cross Society, Wakayama Medical Center, Wakayama, Japan
Abstract: Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) are used in the brewing of beer
and are available throughout the world. During evaluation of the
physiological functions of hops, it was shown that hop water
extraction (HWE) has anti-allergic effects in vitro and in vivo. HWE
suppressed histamine release from the human basophilic KU812 cells;
however, this activity was not observed for the hot water extract
from
the hops. An oral dose of 500 mg/kg of HWE significantly inhibited
vascular permeability induced by the intradermal injection of
compound
48/80 in ICR mice. This study also tested the effect of HWE in the
treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis during the major season of
this allergy in Japan. In a 12-week randomized, double-blind,
placebo-
controlled clinical trial, patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis
were given 100mg of HWE (n=20) or placebo (n=19) per day. The three
nasal symptoms (sneezing, runny nose and stuffiness) and one non-
nasal
symptom (hindrance to daily life) were scored using a 5-point scale
daily: 0, absent; 1, mild; 2, moderate; 3, severe; and 4, very
severe.
The total symptom scores were calculated from the sum of the above 4
symptom scores per week and changes of those between the first week
and each week were calculated. During the trial period, the elevation
of symptom scores was observed as the dispersion of pollen in the
trial area. However, after 10 weeks, the patients of the HWE group
showed significantly lower changes of total symptom scores from the
first week compared to the placebo group (P<0.05). Thus, HWE is an
effective foodstuff for the improvement of the quality of life for
patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis, and would be easily applied
to beverages.

-------------------------
J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Oct 31;55(22):9054-8. Epub 2007 Oct 10. Links
Effects of phytic Acid on peanut allergens and allergenic properties
of extracts.
Chung SY, Champagne ET.
sych...@srrc.ars.usda.gov.

Phytic acid would form soluble and insoluble complexes with proteins.
Our objective was to determine if phytic acid forms insoluble
complexes with major peanut allergens, and if such reaction results
in
a peanut extract with a lower level of soluble allergens and
allergenic property. Extracts from raw and roasted peanuts were
treated with and without phytic acid at various pH values and then
analyzed by SDS-PAGE and a competitive inhibition ELISA (ciELISA).
The
ciELISA measured IgE binding using a pooled serum from peanut-
allergic
individuals. Results showed that phytic acid formed complexes with
the
major peanut allergens (Ara h 1 and Ara h 2), which were insoluble in
acidic and neutral conditions. Succinylation of the allergens
inhibited complex formation, indicating that lysine residues were
involved. A 6-fold reduction in IgE binding or allergenic potency of
the extract was observed after treatment with phytic acid. It was
concluded that phytic acid formed insoluble complexes with the major
peanut allergens, and resulted in a peanut extract with reduced
allergenic potency. Application of phytic acid to a peanut butter
slurry presented a similar result, indicating that phytic acid may
find use in the development of hypoallergenic peanut-based products.

PMID: 17927201 [PubMed - in process]

Who loves ya.
Tom

Jesus Was A Vegetarian!
http://tinyurl.com/2r2nkh

Man Is A Herbivore!
http://tinyurl.com/a3cc3

DEAD PEOPLE WALKING
http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk

  What are you trying to say?

  That we should all travel back 25 years in time to read old "Science"
articles about cholinergic neurons because...what?  Because they mention
the word "choline"?!

  So what?

  This is really not very entertaining, you know.