Skip to main content
PMC home page
Biochemical Journal logoLink to Biochemical Journal
. 1988 Aug 1;253(3):645–650. doi: 10.1042/bj2530645

The occurrence of polyenoic very long chain fatty acids with greater than 32 carbon atoms in molecular species of phosphatidylcholine in normal and peroxisome-deficient (Zellweger's syndrome) brain.

A Poulos 1, P Sharp 1, D Johnson 1, C Easton 1
PMCID: PMC1149355  PMID: 2845926

Abstract

The n-6 tetra- and pentaenoic fatty acids with carbon chain lengths greater than 32 found in normal brain are located predominantly in a separable species of phosphatidylcholine. A similar phospholipid is found in increased amounts in the brain of peroxisome-deficient (Zellweger's syndrome) patients, but the fatty acid composition differs in that penta- and hexaenoic derivatives predominate. Our data strongly suggest that the polyenoic very long chain fatty acids are confined to the sn-1 position of the glycerol moiety, while the sn-2 position is enriched in saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids with less than 24 carbon atoms. It is postulated that these unusual molecular species of phosphatidylcholine may play some, as yet undefined, role in brain physiology.

Full text

PDF
645

Images in this article

646Fig. 1.
on p.646

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aveldaño M. I. A novel group of very long chain polyenoic fatty acids in dipolyunsaturated phosphatidylcholines from vertebrate retina. J Biol Chem. 1987 Jan 25;262(3):1172–1179. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Aveldaño M. I., Sprecher H. Very long chain (C24 to C36) polyenoic fatty acids of the n-3 and n-6 series in dipolyunsaturated phosphatidylcholines from bovine retina. J Biol Chem. 1987 Jan 25;262(3):1180–1186. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BLIGH E. G., DYER W. J. A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification. Can J Biochem Physiol. 1959 Aug;37(8):911–917. doi: 10.1139/o59-099. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Blusztajn J. K., Wurtman R. J. Choline biosynthesis by a preparation enriched in synaptosomes from rat brain. Nature. 1981 Apr 2;290(5805):417–418. doi: 10.1038/290417a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bridges R. B., Coniglio J. G. The biosynthesis of delta-9,12,15,18-tetracosatetraenoic and of delta-6,9,12,15,18-tetracosapentaenoic acids by rat testes. J Biol Chem. 1970 Jan 10;245(1):46–49. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Easton C., Johnson D. W., Poulos A. Determination of phospholipid base structure by CA MIKES mass spectrometry. J Lipid Res. 1988 Jan;29(1):109–112. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. FOLCH J., LEES M., SLOANE STANLEY G. H. A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipides from animal tissues. J Biol Chem. 1957 May;226(1):497–509. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Grogan W. M., Huth E. G. Biosynthesis of long-chain polyenoic acids from arachidonic acid in cultures of enriched spermatocytes and spermatids from mouse testis. Lipids. 1983 Apr;18(4):275–284. doi: 10.1007/BF02534702. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Owens K., Hughes B. P. Lipids of dystrophic and normal mouse muscle: whole tissue and particulate fractions. J Lipid Res. 1970 Sep;11(5):486–495. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Poulos A., Johnson D. W., Beckman K., White I. G., Easton C. Occurrence of unusual molecular species of sphingomyelin containing 28-34-carbon polyenoic fatty acids in ram spermatozoa. Biochem J. 1987 Dec 15;248(3):961–964. doi: 10.1042/bj2480961. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Poulos A., Sharp P., Fellenberg A. J., Danks D. M. Cerebro-hepato-renal (Zellweger) syndrome, adrenoleukodystrophy, and Refsum's disease: plasma changes and skin fibroblast phytanic acid oxidase. Hum Genet. 1985;70(2):172–177. doi: 10.1007/BF00273077. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Poulos A., Sharp P., Johnson D., White I., Fellenberg A. The occurrence of polyenoic fatty acids with greater than 22 carbon atoms in mammalian spermatozoa. Biochem J. 1986 Dec 15;240(3):891–895. doi: 10.1042/bj2400891. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Poulos A., Sharp P., Singh H., Johnson D., Fellenberg A., Pollard A. Detection of a homologous series of C26-C38 polyenoic fatty acids in the brain of patients without peroxisomes (Zellweger's syndrome). Biochem J. 1986 Apr 15;235(2):607–610. doi: 10.1042/bj2350607. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rosenthal M. D., Hill J. R. Human vascular endothelial cells synthesize and release 24- and 26-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1984 Sep 12;795(2):171–178. doi: 10.1016/0005-2760(84)90063-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sharp P., Poulos A., Fellenberg A., Johnson D. Structure and lipid distribution of polyenoic very-long-chain fatty acids in the brain of peroxisome-deficient patients (Zellweger syndrome). Biochem J. 1987 Nov 15;248(1):61–67. doi: 10.1042/bj2480061. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Tacconi M., Wurtman R. J. Phosphatidylcholine produced in rat synaptosomes by N-methylation is enriched in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jul;82(14):4828–4831. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.14.4828. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biochemical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biochemical Society

RESOURCES