Vitamin E transport, membrane incorporation and cell metabolism: Is α-tocopherol in lipid rafts an oar in the lifeboat?
✍ Scribed by Stéphanie Lemaire-Ewing; Catherine Desrumaux; Dominique Néel; Laurent Lagrost
- Book ID
- 102512922
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2010
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 216 KB
- Volume
- 54
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1613-4125
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Vitamin E is composed of closely related compounds, including tocopherols and tocotrienols. Studies of the last decade provide strong support for a specific role of α‐tocopherol in cell signalling and the regulation of gene expression. It produces significant effects on inflammation, cell proliferation and apoptosis that are not shared by other vitamin E isomers with similar antioxidant properties. The different behaviours of vitamin E isomers might relate, at least in part, to the specific effects they exert at the plasma membrane. α‐Tocopherol is not randomly distributed throughout the phospholipid bilayer of biological membranes, and as compared with other isomers, it shows a propensity to associate with lipid rafts. Distinct aspects of vitamin E transport and metabolism is discussed with emphasis on the interaction between α‐tocopherol and lipid rafts and the consequences of these interactions on cell metabolism.