Ganglioside GD1a is a sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipid found in brain, erythrocytes, bone marrow, testis, spleen, and liver. [1] It can be shed from the surface of tumor cells into the microenvironment where it influences tumor-host cell interactions to promote tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Ganglioside GD1a (20 μM) also increases endothelial cell proliferation. Furthermore, ganglioside GD1a has been shown to act as a functional coreceptor for toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), enabling the recruitment of TLR2 to lipid rafts when bound by a bacterial toxin.[2] Ganglioside GD1a mixture contains ganglioside GD1a molecular species with C18:1 and C20:1 sphingoid backbones.
Ceramide phosphoethanolamine (CPE) is an analog of sphingomyelin that contains ethanolamine rather than choline as the head group. It is the principal membrane phospholipid in invertebrates such as Drosophila, which lacks sphingomyelin. It is only produced in small amounts in mammalian cells, accounting for approximately 0.02 mol% of total phospholipids in mouse testis and brain. In Drosophila, CPE is biosynthesized by CPE synthase from ceramide and cytidine diphosphate-ethanolamine in the Golgi lumen. In mammals, it is biosynthesized by sphingomyelin synthase 2 (SMS2) in the plasma membrane and by sphingomyelin synthase-related protein (SMSr) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In Drosophila, CPE has a role in glial ensheathment of axons. Disrupting CPE synthesis by depleting SMSr in vitro in mammalian cells leads to an accumulation of ER ceramides, which are then mislocalized to the mitochondria, inducing apoptosis. However, ceramide levels are not altered in transgenic mice lacking SMSr catalytic activity. CPEs (bovine) is a mixture of CPEs with variable N-acyl chain lengths.
PACAP-related peptide (PRP) is an endogenous 29-amino acid peptide that belongs to the secretin/glucagon superfamily of peptides, which includes secretin , glucagon , glucagon-like peptide-1 , GLP-2 , and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide . It is expressed in rat hypothalamus as well as within the nerves of the median eminence, the anterior pituitary, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, cerebellum, cerebral cortex, and amygdala. PRP is also expressed in vaginal, uterine cervical, uterine horn, fallopian tube, and ovarian tissues from the rat female genital tract and is present in extracts of male testis tissue.
LL-37 is a cationic and α-helical antimicrobial peptide expressed in human bone marrow, testis, granulocytes, and gingival epithelium and is upregulated in psoriatic lesions. It inhibits growth of Gram-positive E. coli D21 and Gram-negative B. megatarium in a concentration-dependent manner and LL-37 expression is induced in A549 epithelial cells, alveolar macrophages, neutrophils, and monocyte-derived macrophages following M. tuberculosis infection. LL-37 binds sheep erythrocytes coated with S. minnesota Re-LPS and induces agglutination with a minimal agglutinating concentration (MAC) of 12.1 μg/ml. It is a chemoattractant for, and can induce calcium mobilization in, human monocytes, neutrophils, and T cells that naturally express formyl peptide receptor-like 1 (FPRL1) and FPRL1-transfected HEK293 cells. LL-37 (10-15 μM) pretreatment of dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2) reduces its infectivity as well as levels of viral genomic RNA and NS1 antigen. In vivo, LL-37 inhibits cecal ligation and puncture-induced caspase-1 activation and pyroptosis of peritoneal macrophages, reduces levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, and improves survival in polybacterial septic mice.
MAGE-3 (271-279) is a peptide consisting of 271-279 amino acid residues that is derived from melanoma antigens encoded by the MAGE-3 gene. It is specifically recognized by cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and binds to the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2 molecule. MAGE-3 is highly expressed in various human tumor types, such as malignant melanoma, but not in normal tissues, except for the testis and placenta.
5α-Androstan-3β-ol, a steroidal androgen, demonstrates selective interaction with cellular components, showing affinity for the androgen receptor (AR) with an IC50 of 1.7 µM and activating the pregnane X receptor (PXR) in HepG2 cells with an EC50 of 0.8 µM. It selectively inhibits the hydroxylase activities of 16α- and 6β-hydroxylase over 16β- or 7α-hydroxylase, with IC50 values of 70 and 110 µM, compared to >150 µM for the latter enzymes, indicating a specificity in its enzyme inhibition profile. Additionally, administration of this compound at a dosage of 30 mg kg results in a decrease in testis weight and sperm production in mice, highlighting its biological effects on male reproductive parameters.