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Cell Biology International (1998) 22, 177–183 (Printed in Great Britain)

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DECREASED DENSITIES OF INTRAMEMBRANOUS PARTICLES AND CYTOCHEMICALLY DETECTABLE CHOLESTEROL IN MICROVILLI OF STARVED RAT ENTEROCYTES

A.A WAHEED^a, Y TOYAMA^b, F YASUZUMI^c and P.D GUPTA^a,f1

^aCentre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, 500 007, India
^bDept of Anatomy, Chiba University, Chiba, 280, Japan
^c2nd Department of Anatomy, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, 903-01, Japan

Abstract

The densities of intramembranous particles (IMPs) and of sterol complexes induced by treatment of filipin were studied by freeze-fracture replication of intact intestine and/or isolated brush border membranes (BBM) of well-fed and starved rats. The density of IMPs and filipin-sterol complexes (FSCs) decrease considerably during starvation. Biochemical estimations show a decrease in the levels of cholesterol and proteins with respect to phospholipids during starvation which is in agreement with morphological findings. It is suggested that these changes may play a role in regulating membrane fluidity which in turn affects absorption of nutrients through BBM.

Key words: rat intestine, lasting, brush border membranes, freeze-fracture, cholesterol, protein phospholipid ratio.

^f1*To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received 15 October 1997; accepted 23 January 1998