Premium
Incorporation of Very‐Long‐Chain Fatty Acids into Sphingolipids of Cultured Neural Cells
Author(s) -
Saito Mariko,
Saito Mitsuo
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1991.tb03774.x
Subject(s) - sphingolipid , chemistry , long chain , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , neuroscience , polymer science
We examined effects of exogenous very‐long‐chain fatty acids on lipids of cultured chick neurons and astrocytes. When chick neurons were incubated in chemically defined medium containing 10 μM nervonic acid (C24:1) for 7 days, it was found that a major fatty acid moiety of gangliosides and sphingomyelin was nervonic acid itself, which was not normally detected in the sphingolipid fraction. This alteration in the fatty acid composition apparently occurred in each ganglioside species. Under these experimental conditions, nervonic acid was not found in the glycerophospholipid fraction, and the amounts of triacylglycerol and free nervonic acid increased. Addition of behenic acid (C22:0) or erucic acid (C22:l) also induced changes in the fatty acid composition of gangliosides. When chick astrocytes were incubated in the presence of 10 μM nervonic acid for 7 days, no significant change was observed in the fatty acid composition of gangliosides. These studies indicate that the manipulation of the fatty acid moiety of sphingolipids in cultured neurons is possible.