Cholestane Derivatives
Matreya offers a line of cholesterols, phytosterols, and steryl glucosides which comprise an important lipid category of cholestane derivatives. Cholesterol is a sterol that is essential for all animal life; it is critical for membrane permeability and fluidity and for many cellular functions such as the regulation of certain integral protein activities, vascular functions, intracellular transport, cellular signaling, nerve conduction, and steroid, bile salt and vitamin D biosynthesis.1 Plant sterols, isolated from natural sources, are ideal for use as standards in gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and high performance liquid chromatography.2 They are important components of membranes as they have a particular role in the plasma membrane, mitochondrial outer membrane, and endoplasmic reticulum. Plant sterols will complex with glycosphingolipids in raft-like sub-domains and can affect many cellular functions including membrane fluidity, permeability, activity of membrane-bound enzymes, cellular differentiation, cellular signaling, and cellular proliferation.
References:
- D. Brown and E. London "Structure and Function of Sphingolipid- and Cholesterol-rich Membrane Rafts" Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 275 pp. 17221-17224, 2000
- L. Clement et al. "Quantitation of Sterols and Steryl Esters in Fortified Foods and Beverages by GC/FID" JAOCS, 2010 electronic publication