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Evidence that only newly made phosphatidylethanolamine is methylated to phosphatidylcholine and that phosphatidylethanolamine is not significantly deacylated-reacylated in rat hepatocytes.

The metabolism of the molecular species of phosphatidylethanolamine derived from [3H]ethanolamine and molecular species of phosphatidylcholine derived from [3H]ethanolamine or [methyl-3H]choline has been studied in rat hepatocytes. After an initial pulse of radioactivity for 1 h and a chase for up to 24 h, the cells were harvested and the incorporation of label into the various molecular species of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine was determined. The incorporation and metabolism of choline- and ethanolamine-labeled phosphatidylcholine was consistent with deacylation of some species of phosphatidylcholine and reacylation to form molecular species of phosphatidylcholine with different fatty acyl components. In contrast, such remodeling of ethanolamine-labeled phosphatidylethanolamine was not evident. Radioactivity disappeared from all molecular species of phosphatidylethanolamine without an increase in any of the species of phosphatidylethanolamine. This radioactivity was recovered in water-soluble metabolites in the cells and medium. Phosphatidylethanolamine (16:0-22:6) had an initial turnover rate (5.8 nmol/h) which was two or more times that of any of the other major molecular species of phosphatidylethanolamine. The molecular species of phosphatidylethanolamine displayed biphasic turnover profiles. The second rate of decay of radioactivity between 12 and 24 h was 2-4 times slower than the initial decay rate. During the first 2 h of the chase period, phosphatidylcholine was a major metabolite of labeled phosphatidylethanolamine. Subsequently, there was minimal conversion of phosphatidylethanolamine to phosphatidylcholine which suggests that only newly made phosphatidylethanolamine is available as a substrate for methylation to phosphatidylcholine.

Animals↗

Interactions in mixed monolayers between distearoyl-L-phosphatidylethanolamine, rod outer segment phosphatidylethanolamine and all-trans retinal. Effect of pH.

The interactions in mixed monolayers between distearoyl-L-phosphatidylethanolamine, natural phosphatidylethanolamine purified from bovine rod outer segments and all-trans retinal have been studied at the nitrogen/water interface at 21.0 +/- 0.5 degrees C. Seven mixtures of each phospholipid with all-trans retinal, covering the whole range of molar fractions, were studied. The monolayers were spread on a 1 X 10(-3) M phosphate buffer subphase at three different pH values, 5.5, 7.1 and 8.2. The results for the two series of mixtures are strikingly different. The surface phase rule shows that all-trans retinal is miscible with the natural phospholipid at the interface. Small, negative deviations with respect to the additivity rule are observed in this case. The excess free energies of mixing were also calculated as a function of concentration for this system at four different surface pressures, 5, 7, 10 and 13 mN X m-1. They are negative for the four surface pressures considered and symmetrical with respect to the mole fraction. On the other hand, when distearoyl-L-phosphatidylethanolamine is mixed with all-trans retinal, the components are no longer miscible at the interface. This marked difference in behaviour between the two lipids reflects the importance of hydrophobic interactions in the mixed monolayers of phospholipids with retinals. Furthermore, for the two series of mixtures, the surface pressure isotherms do not show any significant shift when the subphase pH is changed from 5.5 to 8.2. This behaviour raises questions about the formation of a Schiff base between phosphatidylethanolamine and retinal at the interface. It is suggested that, owing to the nature of the disk membranes, such an effect would also be observed in vivo. The possible implications of this are discussed, particularly with respect to questions pertaining to the stability of the retinal chromophore.

Animals↗

Thermotropic behavior of phosphatidylethanolamine-cholesterol and phosphatidylethanolamine-phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol mixtures.

The thermotropic behavior of aqueous dispersions of phosphatidylethanolamine-cholesterol and phosphatidyl-ethanolamine-phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol mixtures has been studied by high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry. The gel to liquid-crystalline phase transition of phosphatidylethanolamines is broadened and shifted to lower temperature when cholesterol is incorporated into the bilayer. When the cholesterol content is below 25 mol %, the calorimetric endotherms seem to consist of two components, a broad one at considerably lower temperature than the original transition and another component at only slightly lower temperature. This thermotropic behavior can be explained by the assumption of a homogenous distribution of cholesterol in phosphatidylethanolamine bilayers. Scanning calorimetry of equimolar mixtures of phosphatidylethanolamines with phosphatidylcholines, which show either ideal or nonideal mixing properties, reveals that when cholesterol is added to these mixtures it shows no preferential affinity for either of the phospholipids.

Calorimetry, Differential Scanning↗

Derivatised lipids in membranes. Physico-chemical aspects of N-biotinyl phosphatidylethanolamines, N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamines and N-acyl ethanolamines.

The physical properties of N-biotinyl phosphatidylethanolamines, N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamines and of N-acyl ethanolamines, in aqueous dispersions, are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the calorimetric (i.e. chain melting) properties, the thermotropic phase behaviour, certain aspects of the structure and dynamics, and the miscibility with other membrane lipids. In the case of N-biotinyl phosphatidylethanolamines, the specific binding of avidin, and in the case of N-acyl ethanolamines, the function of the third chain, is also considered. All of these properties are relevant to the role of these rather unusual lipids in membranes.

Avidin↗

A novel human phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein resists tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced apoptosis by inhibiting mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway activation and phosphatidylethanolamine externalization.

The phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)-binding proteins (PEBPs) are an evolutionarily conserved family of proteins with pivotal biological functions. Here we describe the cloning and functional characterization of a novel family member, human phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein 4 (hPEBP4). hPEBP4 is expressed in most human tissues and highly expressed in tumor cells. Its expression in tumor cells is further enhanced upon tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha treatment, whereas hPEBP4 normally co-localizes with lysosomes, TNFalpha stimulation triggers its transfer to the cell membrane, where it binds to Raf-1 and MEK1. L929 cells overexpressing hPEBP4 are resistant to both TNFalpha-induced ERK1/2, MEK1, and JNK activation and TNFalpha-mediated apoptosis. Co-precipitation and in vitro protein binding assay demonstrated that hPEBP4 interacts with Raf-1 and MEK1. A truncated form of hPEBP4, lacking the PE-binding domain, maintains lysosomal co-localization but has no effect on cellular responses to TNFalpha. Given that MCF-7 breast cancer cells expressed hPEBP4 at a high level, small interfering RNA was used to silence the expression of hPEBP4. We demonstrated that down-regulation of hPEBP4 expression sensitizes MCF-7 breast cancer cells to TNFalpha-induced apoptosis. hPEBP4 appears to promote cellular resistance to TNF-induced apoptosis by inhibiting activation of the Raf-1/MEK/ERK pathway, JNK, and PE externalization, and the conserved region of PE-binding domain appears to play a vital role in this biological activity of hPEBP4.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Metabolism of molecular species of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine in rat hepatocytes during prolonged inhibition of phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase.

The metabolism of the molecular species of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) derived from [3H]ethanolamine has been studied in rat hepatocytes during prolonged inhibition of phosphatidylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PEMT) with 3-deazaadenosine (DZA). After an initial pulse of radioactivity for 1 h and a chase for up to 24 h in the presence or absence of DZA, the cells were harvested and the incorporation of label into the various molecular species of PE and PC was determined. Prolonged inhibition of PEMT did not affect the mol% distribution of either PE or PC molecular species. Thus, PE methylation is not required for the maintenance of cellular PE and PC molecular species composition. While the overall catabolism of PE was not affected by DZA treatment, inhibition of PEMT resulted in the selective degradation of 16:0-22:6-PE. The major catabolic products of PE in the hepatocytes and the medium were glycerophosphoethanolamine and ethanolamine-phosphate. PC, derived from PE, was remodeled at both the sn-1 and sn-2 positions and this process was not affected by the inhibition of PEMT. The major species being remodeled was 16:0-22:6-PC. The rapid turnover of 16:0-22:6-PE and PC species compared to other PE and PC species may be due to the presence of a 16:0-22:6 selective phospholipase.

Animals↗

The role of phosphatidylethanolamine methylation in the secretion of very low density lipoproteins by cultured rat hepatocytes: rapid inhibition of phosphatidylethanolamine methylation by bezafibrate increases the density of apolipoprotein B48-containing lipoproteins.

The role of phosphatidylcholine (PC) synthesis via the phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) methylation pathway in the secretion of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) by cultured rat hepatocytes has been investigated by determining the effects of inhibitors. We have shown that bezafibrate and clofibric acid, known hypolipidemic agents, are potent inhibitors of PE methylation (see accompanying paper by Nishimaki-Mogami et al. (1996) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1304). In hepatocytes incubated with ethanolamine, which maintained cellular PE levels and PE methylation activity, bezafibrate (200 microM) decreased the secretion of triacylglycerol (TG), PC, apolipoproteins B48, and E in VLDL by 50-75%. In contrast, bezafibrate at this concentration had marginal effect on VLDL secretion (83-115% of control) by hepatocytes that had been cultured in the absence of ethanolamine. In these cells PE levels and PE methylation activity had decreased by approx. 40%. VLDL secretion was decreased at concentrations similar to those required to inhibit PE methylation, and was accompanied by an increase in cellular TG levels. The same ethanolamine-dependent effects were produced by clofibric acid and also by 3-deazaadenosine (DZA), an inhibitor of cellular methylation reactions. These results indicate that PC synthesis via the PE methylation pathway plays a significant role in VLDL secretion in rat hepatocytes if the pathway is maintained at levels comparable to those in vivo. The reductions of PE methylation by bezafibrate and DZA did not affect the total amount of apolipoprotein B48 secreted into the medium. The decrease in apolipoprotein B48 in VLDL caused by bezafibrate was accompanied by an increase in apolipoprotein B48 in the HDL density range. In contrast, the amount of apolipoprotein B100 in VLDL and density determined by sequential flotation were unaffected. These findings indicate that rapid reduction of PC synthesis via PE methylation does not affect the secretion of apolipoprotein B48- or B100-containing lipoprotein particles, but does impair the lipidation of particles containing apolipoprotein B48, but not apolipoprotein B100.

Animals↗

Phosphatidylethanolamine levels and regulation of phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase.

The activity of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) N-methyltransferase in liver microsomes, measured using endogenous microsomal PE as a substrate, was elevated 2-fold in the choline-deficient state. However, methyltransferase activity assayed in the presence of a saturating concentration of phosphatidyl-N-mono-methylethanolamine or microsomal PE was unchanged by choline deficiency. Accompanying the increase in methyltransferase activity in liver homogenates and microsomes were increased PE concentrations and an increased PE to phosphatidylcholine ratio. The concentration of other phospholipids was unchanged. Immunoblot analysis of choline-deficient and choline-supplemented rat liver microsomes using a rabbit polyclonal anti-PE N-methyltransferase antibody revealed that the amount of enzyme protein was unaltered. The regulation of methyltransferase by PE levels was also investigated in cultured hepatocytes obtained from choline-deficient rat livers. Supplementation of deficient hepatocytes with 200 microM methionine resulted in a 50% reduction in cellular PE levels over a 12-h period. PE N-methyltransferase activity assayed with endogenous PE was also reduced by 50%, but phosphatidyl-N-monomethylethanolamine-dependent activity was unchanged. A 4-h supplementation with choline did not affect PE levels or methyltransferase activity. Either methionine or choline supplementation resulted in net synthesis of cellular phosphatidylcholine. Immunoblotting of membranes from methionine-supplemented hepatocytes revealed no change in enzyme protein, a further indication that enzyme mass was constitutive, and activity was regulated by the concentration of PE.

Animals↗

Specificity of rat hepatic phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase for molecular species of diacyl phosphatidylethanolamine.

The specificity of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) N-methyltransferase for molecular species of PE has been investigated. Phosphatidylcholine (PC), synthesized by incubation of [methyl-3H]S-adenosyl-L-methionine with microsomes or pure enzyme (Ridgway, N. D., and Vance, D. E. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 17231-17239) plus microsomal PE, had a distribution of methyl label in molecular species similar to the mole percent distribution of molecular species in the precursor PE. A similar lack of specificity was observed with PE that was synthesized from egg PC by transphosphatidylation with phospholipase D. Phosphatidyl-N-monomethylethanolamine (PMME) and phosphatidyl-N,N-dimethylethanolamine (PDME), both with the acyl composition of egg PC, were methylated by the pure enzyme and showed a distribution of labeled molecular species in PDME and PC, respectively, similar to the mole percent distribution of egg PC. Results with synthetic PEs and pure methyltransferase showed higher rates of methylation with more unsaturated species. Long chain saturated PEs (e.g. dipalmitoyl-PE) were not methylated by the enzyme. Maximal methylation rates were obtained with two or more double bonds in the substrate PE. Rates of methylation of the saturated and monoenoic PEs could be enhanced when 40 mol % polyunsaturated-rich microsomal PC was included in the mixed micelles. PC isolated from primary cultures of rat hepatocytes pulsed with [methyl-3H]methionine was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. Initially, the labeling pattern of PC molecular species varied slightly from that of total hepatocyte PE and hepatocyte microsomal PE. 1-Palmitoyl-2-docosahexaenoyl-PC had the highest specific activity at the end of the pulse and was preferentially labeled relative to the mole percent distribution of hepatocyte PE molecular species. During the 24-h chase period both the percent distribution of label and specific activity of this species of PC declined. In the same time period, there was a corresponding increase in specific activity and percent distribution of label in 1-palmitoyl and 1-stearoyl species with linoleate and arachidonate in the sn-2 position.

Animals↗

Effect of membrane phosphatidylethanolamine-deficiency/phosphatidylcholine-excess on the metabolism of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine.

Cells of epithelial origin generally require ethanolamine (Etn) to grow in defined culture medium. When such cells are grown without Etn, the membrane phospholipid composition changes drastically, becoming phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)-deficient due to a reduced de novo rate of PE synthesis, and growth stops. We have hypothesized that the cessation of growth occurs because this membrane phospholipid environment is no longer suitable for membrane-associated functions. Phospholipid has long been known to play a role in the transduction of some signals across membranes. In addition to the well-known phosphatidylinositol cycles, hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and PE has recently been shown to play a central role in signal transduction. Using an Etn-requiring rat mammary cell line 64-24, we have studied the metabolism of PC and PE in response to the phorbol ester phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu) under conditions where cells have either normal or PE-deficient membrane phospholipid. In cells having normal membrane phospholipid, the synthesis of PC was stimulated by PDBu (approximately fourfold), as was the degradation of PC and PE (by twofold and fourfold, respectively). Product analysis suggested that PDBu stimulated hydrolysis of PC by both phospholipases C and D (PLC and PLD), and of PE by PLD. However, in PE-deficient cells, neither lipid synthesis or degradation were significantly stimulated by PDBu. Analysis of the CDP-choline pathway of PC synthesis indicated that the regulatory enzyme, CTP:phosphorylcholine cytidylyltransferase, was stimulated about twofold by PDBu in cells having normal membrane, but not in PE-deficient cells. These results indicate that the membrane phospholipid environment profoundly affects phospholipid metabolism, which no doubt influences cell growth and regulation.

Animals↗

Phosphatidylethanolamine metabolism in rat liver after partial hepatectomy. Control of biosynthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine by the availability of ethanolamine.

The effect of partial (70%) hepatectomy on phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) synthesis was studied in rat liver during the first 4 post-operative days. Between 4 and 96 h after partial hepatectomy, the mass of PE increased from 30% to 80% of sham-operation values. In line with the increase in PE mass, the rate of PE synthesis in vivo from [14C]ethanolamine was stimulated 1.6- and 1.3-fold at 22 and 48 h after partial hepatectomy respectively. Surprisingly, the activity of CTP:phosphoethanolamine cytidylyltransferase (EC 2.7.7.14) was virtually unchanged after partial hepatectomy. In addition, neither ethanolamine kinase (EC 2.7.1.82) nor ethanolaminephosphotransferase (EC 2.7.8.1) showed any changes in activity over the time period studied. Hepatic levels of ethanolamine and phosphoethanolamine were drastically increased after partial hepatectomy, as compared with sham operation, whereas levels of CDP-ethanolamine and microsomal diacylglycerol were not affected. Interestingly, partial hepatectomy caused the concentration of free ethanolamine in serum to increase from 29 microM to approx. 50 microM during the first day after surgery. In hepatocytes isolated from non-operated animals, incorporation of [3H]ethanolamine into PE was stimulated by increasing the ethanolamine concentration from 10 up to 50 microM, whereas the radioactivity associated with phosphoethanolamine only increased at ethanolamine concentrations higher than 30 microM. Taken together, our results indicate that the observed increase in serum ethanolamine concentration after partial hepatectomy is probably responsible for both the increase in PE biosynthesis and the accumulation of ethanolamine and phosphoethanolamine in regenerating liver.

Animals↗

Enhancement of thrombin-thrombomodulin-catalysed protein C activation by phosphatidylethanolamine containing unsaturated fatty acids: possible physiological significance of phosphatidylethanolamine in anticoagulant activity of thrombomodulin.

The effects of phospholipid vesicles and their fatty acid compositions on the acceleration of Protein C activation by thrombin-thrombomodulin was studied in vitro. Four main phospholipid fractions were prepared from cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and purified thrombomodulin from human placenta was reconstituted into vesicles consisting of phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) alone, PtdCho plus phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn), PtdCho plus phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) and PtdCho plus PtdIns (1:1, w/w in each case). Vesicles of PtdCho, PtdIns/PtdCho, PtdSer/PtdCho and PtdEtn/PtdCho increased thrombin-thrombomodulin-catalysed protein C activation by 1.2-, 1.9-, 4.3- and 8.4-fold respectively compared with that in the absence of phospholipid. This Protein C activation was not affected by distearoyl PtdEtn/distearoyl PtdCho, whereas it was markedly increased with increasing content of unsaturated fatty acid in PtdEtn. The thrombin-dependent Protein C activation by thrombomodulin reconstituted into dilinolenoyl PtdEtn/distearoyl PtdCho was 14.6 times that by thrombomodulin reconstituted into distearoyl PtdEtn/distearoyl PtdCho, as a result of a decrease in the dissociation constant (Kd) for thrombin and the Michaelis constant (Km) for Protein C of thrombomodulin. Binding of Protein C to PtdEtn/PtdCho fixed to a microwell plate required the presence of CaCl2 and increased with increasing degree of unsaturation of fatty acid in PtdEtn. As PtdEtn appeared on the outside of the plasma membrane in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells after thrombin stimulation, it was presumed that Protein C activation could be elevated by PtdEtn at the outer surface of the plasma membrane via an increased affinity between thrombomodulin, thrombin and Protein C, resulting from both increased formation of the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex via a conformational change in thrombomodulin and increased binding of Protein C to the membrane phospholipid in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner.

Calcium Chloride↗

Identification of deoxy-D-fructosyl phosphatidylethanolamine as a non-enzymic glycation product of phosphatidylethanolamine and its occurrence in human blood plasma and red blood cells.

The amino-carbonyl reaction (Maillard reaction), also known as glycation, of egg-yolk phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) was induced by incubating PE (50 mg/ml) with D-glucose (222 mM) in a methanol medium containing 2,6-ditert-butyl-p-cresol as an antioxidant at 37 degrees C for 4 days. The resultant product, glycated PE (gPE), was then isolated from the reaction mixture by two-step normal and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with UV diode array detection and was characterized as having a 1:1:1 elemental ratio of phosphorus:nitrogen:sugar. The Fourier transform-nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum and infrared absorbance spectrum indicate the isolated gPE to have been deoxy-D-fructosyl PE, which is an Amadori product of PE. The fast atom bombardmentmass spectrometric data for the glycation product of authentic dioleoyl PE (1,2-di-9-octadecenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine) show that the molecular weight of gPE corresponds to that of glucose-conjugated PE in the form of an Amadori product. This Amadori product formation was also confirmed in PE/phosphate buffer dispersions and in phosphatidylcholine-PE liposome/phosphate buffer suspensions in the presence of D-glucose at 37 degrees C. gPE was degraded by phospholipase A2, C and D. Freshly spiked blood plasma and red blood cells (RBC) from nomal human volunteers contained substantial levels of gPE, the concentration corresponding to at least 9 mol% of PE. Remarkable formation of gPE, up to 15-45 mol% of PE in human blood plasma and RBC, was further confirmed by prolonged incubation with 5-45 mM D-glucose. The gPE formation in RBC was found to be proportional to the glycated hemoglobin formation.

Aging↗

A large-scale purification of phosphatidylethanolamine, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylcholine by high performance liquid chromatography: a partial resolution of molecular species.

Egg yolk phospholipids, on a 10 g scale, were resolved by high-performance liquid chromatography on an 8-m silica column with elution by a stepwise chloroformmethanol gradient into homogenous phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and lysophosphatidylethanolamine fractions. Within these fractions, partial resolution on the basis of fatty acyl side chain composition was achieved.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis by castor bean endosperm : membrane bilayer distribution of phosphatidylethanolamine synthesized by the ethanolaminephosphotransferase and ethanolamine exchange reactions.

The bilayer distribution of phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) in the endoplasmic reticulum of castor bean (Ricinus communis L. var Hale) endosperm following synthesis by both the CDP-ethanolamine: 1,2-diacylglycerol ethanolaminephosphotransferase and ethanolamine base exchange reactions have been studied. Two chemical probes, 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (FDNB) and 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS), which covalently bind to the free amino groups, were utilized. The endoplasmic reticulum membranes were impermeable to TNBS at 4 and 25 degrees C, but were permeable to FDNB at both temperatures. FDNB treatment of the PtdEtn from the base exchange reacted with 92% of the PtdEtn, while 80% of the lipid reacted with TNBS. Thus, at least 80% of the PtdEtn synthesized by the base exchange reaction was localized in the outer leaflet of the membrane, with about 12% occurring on the inner leaflet and about 8% being inaccessible. For PtdEtn formed by the CDP-ethanolamine pathway, 85% reacted with FDNB and 70% with TNBS, indicating that at least 70% was produced to the cytoplasmic face of the ER and 15% to the lumen side. The remainder was inaccessible to the probes. The sensitivity to trypsin of the two reactions also was tested. The ethanolamine base exchange enzyme, as well as that for l-serine exchange, retained activity following exposure to trypsin, but the activity of ethanolaminephosphotransferase disappeared after such treatment. This indicates that both base exchange enzymes are exposed to the lumenal side of the ER, while CDP-ethanolamine: 1,2-diacylglycerol ethanolaminephosphotransferase is exposed on the outer or cytoplasmic side. These results are discussed with respect to the final phospholipid distributions and the presumed sources of the water-soluble substrates.

Journal Article↗

Asymmetric distribution of phosphatidylethanolamine fatty acyl chains in the membrane of vesicular stomatitis virus.

The membrane of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) contains two distinct pools of phosphatidylethanolamine molecules which reside in the inner and outer phospholipid monolayers, respectively. 36% of the total membrane phosphatidylethanolamine is found in the outer monolayer while 64% is found in the inner. The two pools of VSV phosphatidylethanolamine can be distinguished operationally by the fact that only outer phosphatidylethanolamine is reactive in intact virions with the membrane-impermeable reagent trinitrobenzenesulfonate (TNBS). We have made use of this property to separate inner from outer VSV phosphatidylethanolamine and to determine the fatty acyl chain compositions of the two phosphatidylethanolamine pools separately. The results show that compared to outer phosphatidylethanolamine, inner phosphatidylethanolamine molecules contain a significantly higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acyl chains. Furthermore, whereas the proportion of unsaturated fatty acyl chains was found to be quite similar at the 1 and 2 glycerol carbon atoms in inner phosphatidylethanolamine, a marked dissimilarity was observed in outer phosphatidylethanolamine; outer phosphatidylethanolamine was enriched in saturated fatty acyl chains at the 1 position and in unsaturated fatty acyl chains at the 2 position. The differential fatty acyl chain composition of inner compared to outer phosphatidylethanolamine indicates that rapid, random transmembrane migration (flip-flop) of phosphatidylethanolamine does not occur in the VSV membrane. The nature of the fatty acyl chain asymmetry observed in VSV phosphatidylethanolamine does not support the view that the identity of the fatty acyl chains can uniquely specify or determine which side of the membrane individual phosphatidylethanolamine molecules come to occupy. Although fatty acyl chain asymmetry and phosphatidylethanolamine asymmetry are correlated in VSV, no simple rules can be discerned which uniquely relate the two paramaters.

Chemical Phenomena↗

Acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine in the reconstitution of ion pumps.

Acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine was compared with phosphatidylethanolamine in the reconstitution of several biological membrane activities with the following results. 1. The proton pump reconstituted with the purple membrane of Halobacterium halobium and acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine was quite active. However, some differences in the kinetic properties, particularly in the decay rate, were noted between vesicles reconsituted with phosphatidylethanolamine and acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine. 2. Acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine could not replace phosphatidylethanolamine in the reconstitution of a Ca-2 plus pump with ATPase isolated from sacoplasmic reticulum. However, inclusion of suitable amounts of stearylamine or oleylamine during reconstitution yielded acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine vesicles with Ca-2 plus translocation activity comparable to that of phosphatidylethanolamine vesicles. 3. A mixture of acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine and stearylamine or oleylamine substituted for phosphatidylethanolamine in the reconstitution of mitochondrial hydrophobic proteins to form vesicles that catalyze 32-Pi-ATP exchange. Since phosphatidylcholine is also required in this system, these findings point to two functions of phosphatidylethanolamine, one related to the specific properties of its amino group, the other to a structural role of its small polar head group. A hydrophobic alkylamine can fullfill the first function, acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine the second. 4. The importance of the charge was also observed in experiments with the reconstituted rutamycin-sensitive ATPase of mitochondria. After depletion of phospholipids from the hydrophobic proteins, ATPase activity and rutamycin sensitivity were restored only if a phospholipid as well as the appropriate charge were present.

Acetates↗

Phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase: evidence for influence of diet fat on selectivity of substrate for methylation in rat brain synaptic plasma membranes.

Male weanling rats were fed diets containing 20% (w/w) fat differing in fatty acid composition for 24 days. Synaptic plasma membranes were isolated from the brain and the fatty acid composition of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine was determined. In vitro assays of phosphatidylethanolamine methyl-transferase activity were performed on fresh membrane samples to assess effect of dietary fat on the rate of phosphatidylethanolamine methylation for phosphatidylcholine synthesis via the phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase pathway. Dietary level of n-6 and ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids influenced membrane phospholipid fatty acid composition and activity of the lipid-dependent phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase pathway. Rats fed a diet rich in n-6 fatty acids produced a high ratio of n-6/n-3 fatty acids in synaptosomal membrane phosphatidylethanolamine, and elevated rates of methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine to phosphatidylcholine by phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferases, suggesting that the pathway exhibits substrate selectivity for individual species of phosphatidylethanolamine containing long-chain homologues of dietary n-6 and n-3 fatty acids (20:4(n-6), 22:4(n-6), 22:5(n-6) and 22:6(n-3). It may be concluded that diet alters the membrane content of n-6, n-3 and monounsaturated fatty acids, and that change in phosphatidylethanolamine species available for methylation to phosphatidylcholine alters the rate of product synthesis in vivo by the phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase pathway.

Animals↗