Graduation date: 1993

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1922. / Vita. "Reprinted from the Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. XLVIII, no. 1, September, 1921, and vol. LI, no. 1, March, 1922." Part 1 appeared in Studies from the Rockefeller Institute, vol. XLI, p. 273-284.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (Proquest, viewed on Aug. 17, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-203). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1922. / Vita. "Reprinted from the Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. XLVIII, no. 1, September, 1921, and vol. LI, no. 1, March, 1922." Part 1 appeared in Studies from the Rockefeller Institute, vol. XLI, p. 273-284.

In the last few decades, considerable emphasis has been placed on the problem of manufacturing very readily soluble whole milk powder. A satisfactory instant whole milk powder is difficult to produce largely because of the presence of fat in the system. In the present study, certain substances were added to the whole milk powder to help the dispersion of its constituents. Attempt has been made to investigate the effect of lecithin from different sources on the instantization of whole milk powder and to find out whether this effect is due to a chemical interaction between the casein and lecithin or due to a change in the physical properties of the powder. It was found that the powder particles agglomerated partially and as a result, the reconstitutability in cold water, 4°C, was improved, remarkably. Different degrees of improvement in the sinkability were observed when the powder was treated with 2% lecithin from different sources. There was no evidence for casein lecithin interaction but the results show that alteration in the interfacial tension of butter oil and the surface tension of water by lecithins would play an important role in the sink-ability improvement of the powder. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Several model systems were investigated to elucidate the mechanisms by which rat liver phosphatidylcholine synthesis is controlled. CTP: phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase was clearly the key regulatory enzyme for phosphatidylcholine formation from choline. This ambiquitous enzyme was detected in both the cytosolic and microsomal fractions of rat liver, although the majority of the cytidylyltransferase occurred in the soluble fraction. The distribution of cytidylyltransferase between these fractions was altered when the rate of phosphatidylcholine synthesis was perturbed. Translocation of cytidylyltransferase was observed in rat liver during early development, with starvation and during a diurnal rhythm. A redistribution of cytidylyltransferase was also detected in isolated hepatocytes which were treated with glucagon, cAMP analogues or fatty acids bound to albumin. The rate of phosphatidylcholine synthesis was found to reflect the amount of microsomal cytidylyltransferase activity. The inhibition of phosphatidylcholine synthesis by glucagon or cAMP analogues was likely due to phosphorylation and inhibition of the cytidylyltransferase. Several lines of evidence indicated that the cytidylyltransferase in fresh rat liver cytosol was probably phosphorylated and activated upon dephosphorylation by endogenous phosphoprotein phosphatases or alkaline phosphatase from hog intestine. Although the phosphorylation of cytidylyltransferase was apparently kinetically "silent", dephosphorylation resulted in an increased affinity of the enzyme for membranes. Fatty acids stimulated de novo phosphatidylcholine synthesis by acceleration of the cytidylyl-transferase-catalyzed reaction. Fatty acids and their CoA derivatives were shown to stimulate the cytosolic cytidylyltransferase activity. However, these compounds failed to activate partially purified cytidylyltransferase appreciably. Apparently, fatty acids, like dephosphorylation, enhanced the tenacity of cytidylyltransferase for membranes. Upon binding to membranes, cytidylyltransferase activity could be elevated up to 45-fold, and the affinity of the enzyme for the substrate, CTP, was increased 20-fold. The influence of glucagon, cAMP analogues and fatty acids on the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine by successive N-methylation was also examined in isolated rat hepatocytes. Glucagon and cAMP analogues inhibited the methylation pathway in these cells, but the activity of microsomal phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase was elevated. Fatty acids also reduced the formation of phosphatidylcholine from phosphatidylethanolamine. Fatty acids and their CoA derivatives directly inhibited the phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase in rat liver microsomes. The coordinate control of hepatic phosphatidylcholine synthesis by cAMP and fatty acids may be important during starvation when the intracellular levels of these compounds are increased. / Medicine, Faculty of / Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of / Graduate

The physico-chemical properties of lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase were investigated. The amino acid composition analysis showed a relatively high content of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, glycine and leucine. The spectrophotometric titration of phenolic groups in the enzyme showed a large increase in absorbance at 295 nm with an apparent pK of about 12.0. The largest change in molar ellipticity at 222 nm was also observed above pH 11. Circular dichroism studies revealed that human lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase has a relatively high content of β-pleated sheet structure (48%) with 20% α-helix, and 32% remaining structure. Human lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase has a high extinction coefficient at neutral pH. Microsequencing of the amino terminal residues of the enzyme revealed a hydrophobic character. Inactivation of lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase activity was observed using diisopropylfluorophosphate with a stoichiometry of 1 mole of diisopropylphosphate incorporated per mole of enzyme. This suggests the involvement of a serine residue in the active site of the enzyme, possibly for the formation of an acyl-intermediate. A new quicker assay method for lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase was developed. This assay involved coupling reaction with acyl CoA synthetase, ΡΡᵢ-dependent phosphofructokinase, aldolase, triosephosphate isomerase and α-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase monitoring a change in the absorbance or fluorescence intensity due to the oxidation of NADH. The activity of each coupling enzyme was accurately determined to establish the optimum assay condition for lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase. The coupled enzyme assay for lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase by spectrofluorometry showed a significant change in relative fluorescence intensity whereas a UV absorption spectroscopy method showed no significant absorbance change for the initial rate of lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase reaction.

The interest in microemulsions as transdermal delivery systems have been motivated by their large surface area for mass transfer, their high solubilization capacity of hydrophobic actives, and their ability to improve skin penetration. Lecithins (mixtures of phospholipids similar to those find in the skin) have been proposed as ideal surfactants in microemulsions due to their skin compatibility. Unfortunately, their incorporation into microemulsions used to require toxic medium-chain alcohols or viscous polymeric co-surfactants. Recently, microemulsion-base “green solvents” were formulated with lecithin and linker molecules. The main objective of this dissertation was to test this concept of linker-based lecithin microemulsions in transdermal delivery. In the first part of this study, linker-based lecithin formulations were developed using soybean lecithin as main surfactant, sorbitol monooleate as lipophilic linker, and caprylic acid/sodium caprylate as hydrophilic linkers. These additives, at the suggested concentration, are safe for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. The low toxicity of these formulations was confirmed in cultured human skin tissues. The solubilization and permeation of a common anaesthetic, lidocaine, was evaluated. The concept of “skin” permeability was introduced to account for the differences in solvent-skin partition when comparing different delivery systems. The linker-based lecithin microemulsion produced a substantial absorption of lidocaine into the skin, when compared to a conventional pentanol-lecithin microemulsion. The second part of this study takes advantage of the lidocaine adsorbed in the skin with the linker-based lecithin microemulsion as reservoir for in situ skin patches. The in situ patches were able to release 90% of the lidocaine over 24 hours, which is comparable to the release profile obtained from conventional polymer or gel-based patches. In the third part of this work, the role of surfactant droplets on the transport of lidocaine was studied. A mass balance model that accounted for mass transfer and partition coefficients was introduced. The parameters generated from the model confirm that in most cases the transport through the skin limits the overall penetration of lidocaine. Besides the conventional diffusion mechanism, the results suggest that surfactant droplets, carrying lidocaine, also penetrate into the skin and contribute to the accumulation of the lidocaine in the skin.

The interest in microemulsions as transdermal delivery systems have been motivated by their large surface area for mass transfer, their high solubilization capacity of hydrophobic actives, and their ability to improve skin penetration. Lecithins (mixtures of phospholipids similar to those find in the skin) have been proposed as ideal surfactants in microemulsions due to their skin compatibility. Unfortunately, their incorporation into microemulsions used to require toxic medium-chain alcohols or viscous polymeric co-surfactants. Recently, microemulsion-base “green solvents” were formulated with lecithin and linker molecules. The main objective of this dissertation was to test this concept of linker-based lecithin microemulsions in transdermal delivery. In the first part of this study, linker-based lecithin formulations were developed using soybean lecithin as main surfactant, sorbitol monooleate as lipophilic linker, and caprylic acid/sodium caprylate as hydrophilic linkers. These additives, at the suggested concentration, are safe for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. The low toxicity of these formulations was confirmed in cultured human skin tissues. The solubilization and permeation of a common anaesthetic, lidocaine, was evaluated. The concept of “skin” permeability was introduced to account for the differences in solvent-skin partition when comparing different delivery systems. The linker-based lecithin microemulsion produced a substantial absorption of lidocaine into the skin, when compared to a conventional pentanol-lecithin microemulsion. The second part of this study takes advantage of the lidocaine adsorbed in the skin with the linker-based lecithin microemulsion as reservoir for in situ skin patches. The in situ patches were able to release 90% of the lidocaine over 24 hours, which is comparable to the release profile obtained from conventional polymer or gel-based patches. In the third part of this work, the role of surfactant droplets on the transport of lidocaine was studied. A mass balance model that accounted for mass transfer and partition coefficients was introduced. The parameters generated from the model confirm that in most cases the transport through the skin limits the overall penetration of lidocaine. Besides the conventional diffusion mechanism, the results suggest that surfactant droplets, carrying lidocaine, also penetrate into the skin and contribute to the accumulation of the lidocaine in the skin.