Membrane lipid unsaturation as physiological adaptation to animal longevity

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2013Author
Barja, Gustavo
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Naudí i Farré, Alba;
Jové Font, Mariona;
Ayala Jové, Ma. Victoria (Maria Victoria);
Portero Otín, Manuel;
Barja, Gustavo;
Pamplona Gras, Reinald;
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(2013)
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Membrane lipid unsaturation as physiological adaptation to animal longevity.
Frontiers in Physiology, 2013, vol. 4, núm. 372, p. 1-13.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2013.00372.
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Show full item recordAbstract
The appearance of oxygen in the terrestrial atmosphere represented an important
selective pressure for ancestral living organisms and contributed toward setting up
the pace of evolutionary changes in structural and functional systems. The evolution
of using oxygen for efficient energy production served as a driving force for the
evolution of complex organisms. The redox reactions associated with its use were,
however, responsible for the production of reactive species (derived from oxygen
and lipids) with damaging effects due to oxidative chemical modifications of essential
cellular components. Consequently, aerobic life required the emergence and selection
of antioxidant defense systems. As a result, a high diversity in molecular and structural
antioxidant defenses evolved. In the following paragraphs, we analyze the adaptation of
biological membranes as a dynamic structural defense against reactive species evolved by
animals. In particular, our goal is to describe the physiological mechanisms underlying the
structural adaptation of cellular membranes to oxidative stress and to explain the meaning
of this adaptive mechanism, and to review the state of the art about the link between
membrane composition and longevity of animal species.
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Frontiers in Physiology, 2013, vol. 4, núm. 372, p. 1-13European research projects
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