Sterol-polyene antibiotic complexation: probe of membrane structure.
Polyene antibiotics are useful tools for studying the role of sterols in biological membranes. The interaction of polyene antibiotics with membrane-bound sterols in artificial membrane systems, prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and lipid-containing viruses is reviewed. The pentaene macrolide, filipin, is shown to serve as a probe of phosphatidylcholine-sterol interaction and of the localization of cholesterol in the membrane of mycoplasmas.
D000666:Amphotericin B / Q000378:metabolism*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005372:Filipin / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008566:Membranes / Q000378:metabolism; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000378:metabolism*; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000378:metabolism; D011090:Polyenes / Q000378:metabolism*
D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D011090:Polyenes; D000666:Amphotericin B; D005372:Filipin; D002784:Cholesterol