The turnover of phosphoglycerides in the subcellular fractions of mouse brain: a study using (1-14C)oleic acid as precursor

Alteration of ethanolamine glycerophospholipid turnover in trembler dysmyelinating mutant: An analysis of the sciatic nerve by biochemistry and radioautography

The turnover of phospholipids was compared in peripheral nerves of Trembler dysmelinating mutant and control mice, after intraperitoneal and local injection of labeled ethanolamine. In the mutant sciatic nerve, neurochemical analysis showed that [(14)C]ethanolamine is incorporated into EGP (ethanolamine glycerophospholipids) of the sciatic nerve at a much higher rate in Trembler mutant than in control mice. Furthermore the decay rate of (14)C-labeled EGP is faster in Trembler than in normal animals. The accelerated turnover of EGP in Trembler sciatic nerve affects the diacyl-EGP while the renewal of the alkenylacyl-EGP (plasmalogens) is slower than in controls. Quantitative radioautographic study at the ultrastructural level corroborate that the initial increase of the label in Trembler nerve fibers was different in axons, Schwann cells and myelin sheaths. EM radioautographs reveal indeed that the high label content observed in Trembler axons takes place preferentially in the myelinated portions of axons and drops within 1 week. In both myelinated and unmyelinated segments of the axons, the majority of the radioactivity was contained in axolemma and smooth axoplasmic reticulum. The 10-fold increase of label found in the myelin sheath of Trembler nerve fibers at 1 day raises the question of the origin of the labeled EGP, either by a stimulated synthesis in Schwann cells or by transfer from axonally transported phospholipids. In contrast, the label of axons, Schwann cells and myelin sheaths of control nerve remains stable during the same period.

Manipulation of rat brain fatty acid composition alters volatile anesthetic potency

The molecular mechanism of volatile anesthetic action remains unknown. Attempts to elucidate this mechanism have been complicated by the absence of models in which changes in neuronal cellular properties can be correlated with changes in whole animal anesthetic effect. In this study we describe a model where diet-induced alterations in rat brain fatty acid composition are correlated with alterations in volatile anesthetic potency. Rats maintained on a fat-free diet showed significant depletion of arachidonic acid (20:4 omega 6; 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 omega 3; 4,7,10,13,16,19,-docosahexaenoic acid) in brain, and a corresponding increase in Mead acid (20: 3 omega 9; 5,8,11-eicosatrienoic acid). These fat-deprived rats were significantly more sensitive to all volatile anesthetics tested than were age-controlled rats on a normal diet. Parenteral supplementation of the fat-deprived animals with linolenic acid (18: 3 omega 3, 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid) completely reconstituted the docosahexaenoic acid content of brain without affecting anesthetic sensitivity. In contrast, supplementation of the fat-deprived rats with linoleic acid (18: omega 6; 9,12-octadecadienoic acid) caused a dramatic decrease in anesthetic sensitivity, but only a small change in whole brain arachidonate content. Further analysis revealed that linoleate supplementation of fat-deprived animals resulted in a preferential normalization of the arachidonate content of brain phosphatidylinositol as compared with other brain phosphoglycerides. These results demonstrate for the first time a correlation between changes in membrane composition and anesthetic effect, and indicate that the precise fatty acid composition (perhaps in specific phospholipids) of brain is important in the mechanism of volatile anesthetic action.

The effect of CMP on the release of free fatty acids of rat brain in vitro

With CMP, phosphatidylcholine can be converted to diacylglycerols and CDPcholine by reversal of the cholinephosphotransferase that is normally used for synthesis. Incubation of homogenates of rat brains at pH 8 with 20 mM MgCl2 increased the free fatty acid (FFA) levels 30 to 117%. The FFA levels increased 62 to 212% when 4 mM CMP was included. Diacylglycerols were also produced. Hydrolysis of the diacylglycerols to FFA was markedly inhibited by inclusion of 3 mM diisopropylphosphofluoridate in the incubation mixture. The composition of the fatty acids released by CMP resembles that of phosphatidylcholine except for some polyunsaturated fatty acids. These may have been released from the ethanolamine glycerophospholipids. Most of the CMP-stimulated release of FFA was blocked by inclusion of 1 mM CDPcholine in the incubation mixture. Rat brains were labeled by intracerebral injection of [3H]oleic acid. The labeled oleic acid was released primarily from phosphatidylcholine. Thus, measurements of both mass and radioactivity confirm that the reversal of cholinephosphotransferase followed by diacylglycerol lipase can be an important pathway for the liberation of FFA from phosphatidylcholine.

Flow of glucose carbon into cholesterol and phospholipids in various regions of the adult rat brain: enhanced incorporation into hypothalamic phospholipids

The contribution of glucose carbon to the biosynthesis of cholesterol and phospholipids in distinct brain regions was studied quantitatively in the adult male rat. Rates of flow of glucose carbon into the lipids in vivo were calculated from two measurements: the curve representing the decrease in plasma 14C-glucose with time and the specific activity of the cerebral lipid 180 minutes after a rapid intravenous injection of a tracer dose of D-U 14C-glucose. The following brain regions were studied: cerebral cortex, hypothalamus, medulla, and corpus callosum and cerebellum. The values for carbon flow into phospholipids were significantly higher in the hypothalamus than in the whole brain, whereas small, but insignificant, regional differences were found for carbon flow into cholesterol. The conversion of U-14C-glucose to individual phospholipids of both hypothalamus and cerebral cortex was further investigated in vitro in order to establish whether the higher rate of carbon flow into hypothalamic phospholipids resulted from enhanced synthesis of a particular phospholipid. In agreement with the results obtained in vivo, the rate of incorporation of 14C into total phospholipids was 60% higher in hypothalamic tissue. The results indicate that the higher rate of carbon flow into hypothalamic phospholipids might be attributed to enhanced incorporation of glucose carbon to phosphatidyl-choline and phosphatidyl-ethanolamine following a faster conversion of glucose to glycerol in this brain region.

Effect of hypoxia on the incorporation of [2-3H] glycerol and [1-14C[-palmitate into lipids of various brain regions

The lipid metabolism in guinea pig brain after intermittent hypoxia, prolonged for 80 hrs, was markedly impaired. The in vivo incorporation of [2-3H] glycerol adn [1-14C] palmitate into lipids of microsomes, mitochondria, myelin, and synaptosomes, purified form cerebral hemispheres, was significantly lower in the hypoxic animals than in the controls. The same effect was observed on the incorporation of labeled precursors into lipids of mitochondria purified from cerebellum and brainstem. In particular, the labeling of th major phospholipids present - ie, phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) - in the mitochondria of the three brain regions examined decreased after hypoxic treatment.

Synthesis and turnover of brain phosphoglycerides- results, methods of calculation and interpretation

The important problem of membrane assembly and disassembly can be studied by measurements of rates of tunrover of labeled components. After intracerebral injections of ethanolamine and glycerol into mice, we have found rapid and slow turnover pools of 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylethanolamine (diacyl-GPE) and 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (diacyl-GPC). We have described the methods for calculation of half-lives for two or more pools and for the calculation of the relative size of the pools. For mice injected between 5 and 8 weeks of age, the rapid turnover pools have a half-life of 1.5 and 1.8 days for diacyl-GPC and diacyl-Ge respectively. Corresponding half-lives for the slow turnover pools are 20 and 27 days. The slow turnover pools include 74% of the diacyl-GPC and 86% of the diacyl-Ge. These turnover rates are in agreement with the flux of fatty acids through the diacylglycerol pools. We have proposed that the rapid turnover pool may be the phosphoglycerides that are exchangable with cytosol carrier proteins and that the slow turnover may represent the catabolism of membrane segments including the intrinsic proteins.

Essential fatty acid deficiency: metabolism of 20:3(n-9) and 22:3(n-9) of major phosphoglycerides in subcellular fractions of developing and mature mouse brain

Essential fatty acid deficiency was initiated in young and mature mice. The metabolism of 20:3(n-9) and 22:3(n-9) in brain subcellular fractions was followed after the mice were switched from the deficient diet to a corn oil supplemented diet. After switching to the supplemented diet, the proportions of (n-9) polyunsaturated fatty acids in brain in both groups of mice decreased with time. The rate of disappearance of (n-9) polyunsaturated fatty acids was faster in the young groups than in the mature group. In the developing mice, the half-linves of the (n-9) polyunsaturated fatty acids in the total ethanolamine phosphoglycerides of brain microsomal, synaptosomal, and myelin fractions were 3, 10, and 15 days respectively. In the mature group, the half-lives for 20:3(n-9) in diacyl-glycerophosphorylethanolamine of microsome, synaptosome, and myelin fractions were 8-10, 10, and 22 days, respectively; and the half-lives for 22:3(n-9) in alkenylacyl-glycerophosphorylethanolamine of the same subcellular fractions were 8-12, 28, and rate of disappearance of 20:3(n-9) in brain was faster in the diacyl-glycerophosphorylethanolamine than in the alkenylacyl-glycerophosphorylethanolamine. These results demonstrate that the metabolism of (n-9) polyunsaturated fatty acid in brain phosphoglycerides during recovery from essential fatty acid deficiency not only varies with age, but also depends upon individual phosphoglycerides present in each subcellular fraction.