Molecular species of choline and ethanolamine phospholipids in rat cerebellum during development

Phospholipid composition in late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis

BACKGROUND

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) is a relatively common group of inherited neurodegenerative disorders characterised by the accumulation of autofluorescent lipopigments (ceroid) similar to lipofuscin. Because of this property, studies have concentrated on fatty acid metabolism and lipid peroxidation.

METHODS

In the present study, the fatty acid composition of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and the molecular species compositions of diacylglycerophosphocholine (diacyl GPC), diacylglycerophosphoethanolamine (diacyl GPE) and alkenylacyl GPE (plasmalogens) were investigated in cultured skin fibroblasts from three patients with a confirmed diagnosis of the late infantile form of the disease (LINCL, CLN2) and three healthy age-matched controls.

RESULTS

Relatively minor differences in the fatty acid compositions of PC and PE were observed between patients and controls. However, dimethyl acetals of plasmalogens were found to be 40% higher in the patients compared to in the controls. Control and LINCL fibroblasts displayed only slight differences in the molecular compositions of diacyl GPE and diacyl GPC. In contrast, compared with normal cells, LINCL fibroblasts had higher levels of alkenylacyl GPE species containing both 18 : 1 and polyunsaturated fatty acids, but lower levels of species with 16 : 0 or 18 : 0 in the sn-1 position.

CONCLUSION

The molecular composition of PC and PE subclasses in skin fibroblasts of healthy subjects and patients suffering from LINCL is here described for the first time. While few differences are noticeable in the fatty acid composition of PC and PE and the molecular species distribution of diacylGPC and diacylGPE, the alkenylacyl GPE (or ethanolamine plasmalogens) were found to differ significantly between patients and healthy controls.

Temporal and quantitative expression of the myelin-associated lipids, ethanolamine plasmalogen, galactocerebroside, and sulfatide, in the differentiating CG-4 glial cell line

We determined the expression of three myelin-typical lipids in the continuous CG-4 glial cell line of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, as the cells differentiated into oligodendrocytes. On 6 different days during the first 9 days of oligodendrocyte development, cells were labeled for 24 h with [3H]ethanolamine to label ethanolamine plasmalogens or with [3H]galactose to label the galactocerebroside and sulfogalactocerebroside; and the amount of labeled lipid expressed on each day was determined. Each labeled lipid was expressed with its own specific time course and in a defined amount on each day of differentiation. Increased labeling of plasmalogens and sulfogalactocerebroside started at early developmental stages, and increased labeling of galactocerebroside started at later stages. The results indicate that the differentiating CG-4 cell line provides a valuable system to investigate factors affecting the early time course of myelin-lipid expression and the amounts expressed.

In vitro proton and phosphorus NMR spectroscopic analysis of murine (C57Bl/6J) brain development

We report for the first time in vitro proton and phosphorus NMR spectroscopic analyses of murine brain development from fetal to adult stages. Chloroform-methanol extracts from C57B16/J mouse brain, at ages ranging from 15 days in utero (F15) to adult, permitted the simultaneous investigation of both cytosolic and membrane phospholipid compartments. The protein content of murine brain was determined and used for quantitation of individual metabolite levels. Proton NMR spectroscopy revealed that NAA, considered a neuronal marker, is undetectable at F15. Glutamate, GABA and creatine, however, are present at this time. All four compounds reach maximum levels at 21 days postnatal (P21). Choline and alanine levels are at their peak in fetal brain and progressively fall as the brain develops. Phosphorus NMR spectroscopy shows that phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidylserine increase steadily from F15 to P21.

Molecular species analysis of phospholipids

The elucidation of phospholipid molecular species composition provides detailed structural information concerning various lipids and thus offers descriptions of crucial determinants of membrane physical and biological properties. Various methods differing in labor intensity, mode of separation and detection, type of calibration, as well as other factors, have been published. Thus precision and accuracy are expected to vary considerably between methods. Qualitative and quantitative aspects of different procedures for molecular species analysis of individual phospholipid classes are discussed in this review. Special emphasis has been given to the characterization of biological tissue samples.

Production and function of lipid second messengers in proliferating and differentiated neuroblastoma cells

Multiple cellular responses are regulated through the generation of lipid second messengers upon activation of phospholipases. One such response concerns the activity of a class of kinase constituting the protein kinase C family. The production of specific molecular species of lipid second messengers may be therefore of prime importance in the activation of a member of the PKC isoforms. Prompted by this possibility we investigated the production of 1,2 diacyl-sn-glycerol (DAG) and phosphatidic acid (PtdOH) in LA-N-1 neuroblastoma cells under various physiological states. 12-0-Tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) stimulation activated a phospholipase D (PLD) specific for phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) in proliferating cells and a phospholipase C (PLC) specific for phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) in retinoic acid (RA) differentiated cells. These separate activations produced different molecular species of DAG or PtdOH. PtdOH was able to stimulate the Ca2+ dependent protein kinase C (PKC) by a mechanism which differed from the action of DAG. PtdOH did not induce the translocation of the PKC to the membrane. Moreover PtdOH, in contrast to DAG, prevented PKC degradation by inhibiting the enzymatic hydrolysis by m-calpain. These observations suggest that the stimulation of cells by agonists elicited the production of specific molecular species of lipid second messengers depending on the physiological status of the cells, and probably on the nature of the stimulus. It seems therefore likely that the generation of specific lipid second messengers may activate specific PKC isoforms resulting in a specific cellular response.

Aggregates of saturated phospholipids at the air-water interface

Surface viscosities of phospholipid/steroid mixtures at the air-water interface were measured by means of an oscillating pendulum. Phospholipids studied included 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC); 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphodimethylethanolamine (DPPDME); 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphomonomethylethanolamine (DPPMME); 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DPPE); 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-[phospho-rac-(1-glycerol)] (DPPG); 1-palmitoyl-2-elaidyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1-palmitoyl-2-linelaidyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine. Each saturated phospholipid was studied in the presence of cholesterol, DPPC was also investigated in the presence of 5-androsten-3beta-ol; cholestanol; 5-cholestene;5alpha-cholesten-3beta-ol methyl ether; coprostanol; 7,(5alpha)-cholesten-3beta-ol; desmosterol; epicholestanol; lanosterol and lophenol. The surface viscosities of the trans-unsaturated phosphatidylcholines (PC) were undetectable by this method and in this respect they resembled cis- unsaturated PC. The surface viscosities of saturated phospholipids were very high but were reduced by low concentrations of steroids. Interpretation of the results for DPPC/cholesterol mixtures indicates that DPPC functions at the air-water interface as a one-dimensional linear aggregate. At 50 mN/m and 22 degrees C the average structure contains approximately 300 DPPC molecules. DPPDME acts similarly but DPPMME, DPPE and DPPG differ from DPPC in their response to cholesterol. All of the steroids examined except 5-androsten-3beta-ol and the lanosterol mixture paralleled cholesterol in their interaction with DPPC an indication that phospholipid/steroid interactions modifying surface viscosity have less stringent requirements for the steroid structure than interactions measured as condensation in surface area.

Ether lipids in biomembranes

Plasmalogens (1-O-1'-alkenyl-2-acylglycerophospholipids) and to a lesser extent the 1-O-alkyl analogs are ubiquitous and in some cases major constituents of mammalian cellular membranes and of anaerobic bacteria. In archaebacteria polar lipids of the cell envelope are either diphytanylglycerolipids or bipolar macrocyclic tetraether lipids capable of forming covalently linked 'bilayers'. Information on the possible role of ether lipids as membrane constituents has been obtained from studies on the biophysical properties of model membranes consisting of these lipids. In addition, effects of modified ether lipid content on properties of biological membranes have been investigated using microorganisms or mammalian cells which carry genetic defects in ether lipid biosynthesis. Differential utilization of ether glycerophospholipids by specific phospholipases might play a role in the generation of lipid mediators that are involved in signal transduction. A possible function of plasmalogens as antioxidants has been demonstrated with cultured cells and might play a role in serum lipoproteins. Synthetic ether lipid analogs exert cytostatic effects, most likely by interfering with membrane structure and by specific interaction with components of signal transmission pathways, such as phospholipase C and protein kinase C.

Molecular species of choline and ethanolamine glycerophospholipids in rat brain myelin during development

The composition of the molecular species of various phospholipid subclasses was examined in myelin isolated from brain of 15-, 21- and 90-day-old rats. The molecular species of diacylglycerophosphocholine (PtdCho), diacylglycerophosphoethanolamine (PtdEtn) and plasmenyl-ethanolamine (PlsEtn) were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after phospholipase C treatment and dinitrobenzoyl derivatization. In rat brain myelin, each phospholipid subclass showed a specific pattern of molecular species that changed during development. PtdCho contained large amounts of saturated/monounsaturated and disaturated species and low amounts of saturated/polyunsaturated species. During brain development, the levels of saturated/monounsaturated molecular species increased whereas those of the disaturated and saturated/polyunsaturated species decreased. PtdEtn were characterized by their low levels of disaturated species and a high content of saturated/monounsaturated and saturated/polyunsaturated species, of which those containing fatty acids of the n-3 series decreased, whereas those containing fatty acids of the n-6 series did not change during brain development. The levels of saturated/monounsaturated species increased in PtdEtn. No disaturated molecular species could be detected in PlsEtn. This alkenylacyl subclass contained large amounts of saturated/polyunsaturated, saturated/monounsaturated and dimonounsaturated molecular species. During development, the levels of saturated/polyunsaturated molecular species decreased while those of the two others increased. The data indicated that myelin sheaths undergo phospholipid changes during brain development and maturation.

Metabolism of exogenous ganglioside GM1 in cultured cerebellar granule cells. The fatty acid and sphingosine moieties formed during degradation are re-used for lipid biosynthesis

Cerebellar granule cells, differentiated in vitro, were parallelly fed with [Sph-3H]GM1 and [stearoyl-14C]GM1, under identical conditions (10(-6) M ganglioside; pulse, from 1-4 h; chase, up to 24 h after 4 h pulse) and the salvage pathways of sphingosine and stearic acid were investigated. It was observed that both sphingosine and stearic acid, liberated during the intralysosomal degradation of ganglioside, are metabolically recycled, along distinct pathways. Sphingosine is used for the biosynthesis of a number of sphingolipids, particularly ceramide, glucosyl-ceramide, gangliosides and sphingomyelin; stearic acid is utilized for the biosynthesis of sphingolipids, and to a greater extent, glycero-phospholipids, especially those endogenously richer in stearic acid (phosphatidyl-ethanolamine and phosphatidyl-choline). No evidence was provided for a salvage pathway for ceramide.

Molecular species composition of glycerophospholipids from white matter of human brain

The molecular species composition of the major glycerophospholipids from white matter of human brain were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography of the 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl derivatives of the corresponding diradylglycerols. In phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylserine (PS), molecular species containing only saturated fatty acids (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) comprised 85.7 and 82.4% of the respective totals, with 18:0/18:1 predominant in PS and 16:0/18:1 in PC. These molecular species were also abundant in phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), but in this phospholipid species containing polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), largely 18:0/22:6n-3 and 18:0/20:4n-6, accounted for over half the total; 18:1/18:1 was also abundant in PE. In contrast, 1-O-alk-1'-enyl-2-acyl sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (GPE) had much more SFA- and MUFA-containing species, predominantly 16:0a/18:1, 18:0a/18:1 and 18:1a/18:1, with low amounts of species containing 20:4n-6 and 22:6n-3. In alkenylacyl GPE, 22:4n-6 was the major PUFA and 16:0a/22:4n-6 and 18:1a/22:4n-6 the main PUFA-containing species. There was six times more 22:6n-3, twice as much 20:4n-6 and half the amount of 22:4n-6 in PE as compared to alkenylacyl GPE.

Sensitive analysis of phospholipid molecular species by high-performance liquid chromatography using fluorescent naproxen derivatives of diacylglycerols

A sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the separation and determination of diacylglycerophospholipid and diacylglycerol (DAG) molecular species has been developed. Phospholipids are hydrolysed with phospholipase C and the resulting DAGs are reacted with naproxen chloride in the presence of 4-dimethylaminopyridine. The naproxen-DAGs were purified by thin-layer chromatography on silica gel G plates. Molecular species were separated using reversed-phase HPLC with isocratic elution and determined by measuring the absorbance at 230 nm or fluorescence at 352 nm (excitation at 332 nm). The method was applied to the determination of diacylglycerophosphoethanolamine in rat cerebrum and cerebellum. The molar absorption coefficient of the naproxen derivatives was 53,000 lmol-1 cm-1 at 230 nm, permitting the generation of linear concentration-dependent determinations down to less than 10 pmol. A ten-fold increase in sensitivity was obtained with a fluorescence detection system owing to the fluorescent properties of the proposed adduct.