Plant Sterols and Steryl Glucosides

Matreya offers a line of cholesterols, phytosterols, and steryl glucosides which comprise an important lipid category of cholestane derivatives. Plant sterols, isolated from natural sources, are ideal for use as standards using gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and high performance liquid chromatography.^1,2 They are important components of membranes and 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:

1. 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
2. L. Clement et al. "Quantitation of Sterols and Steryl Esters in Fortified Foods and Beverages by GC/FID" JAOCS, 2010 electronic publication