Summary
The polyene antibiotic filipin reacts specifically with membrane cholesterol and produces membrane perturbations. Prefixed vibratome slices of cat ependymal cells were treated with a glutaraldehyde solution containing 300 μM filipin. Freeze-fracture of these cells revealed numerous 25–30 nm protuberances on fracture faces (filipinsterol complexes) in the ciliary membrane. In the ciliary necklace, however, these filipin-sterol complexes were absent. These results suggest that the ciliary necklace has a low cholesterol content.
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Cuevas, P., Gutierrez Diaz, J.A. Absence of filipin-sterol complexes from the ciliary necklace of ependymal cells. Anat Embryol 172, 97–99 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318948
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00318948