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Lipids of adrenal chromaffin granules: Fatty acid composition of phospholipids, in particular lysolecithin

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Zusammenfassung

  1. 1.

    Die Fettsäurezusammensetzung der Gesamtphospholipide und von Lecithin, Lysolecithin und Phosphatidyläthanolamin aus chromaffinen Granula des Rindernebennierenmarks wurde untersucht.

  2. 2.

    Die Gesamtphospholipide haben einen relativ hohen Gehalt an Plasmalogenen. Phosphatidyläthanolamin enthält viel Plasmalogen, während Lecithin weniger enthält. 60% der gesamten Fettsäuren in diesen beiden Phospholipiden sind ungesättigt.

  3. 3.

    Lysolecithin aus chromaffinen Granula zeigt charakteristischerweise einen hohen Gehalt (77%) an gesättigten Fettsäuren und einen sehr niedrigen (4%) an mehrfach ungesättigten Fettsäuren. Stearinsäure ist die quantitativ wichtigste Fettsäure.

  4. 4.

    Lysolecithin, das aus Lecithin der chromaffinen Granula durch Inkubation mit Schlangengift-Phospholipase A2 erhalten wurde, hatte eine ähnliche Fettsäurezusammensetzung wie endogenes Lysolecithin.

  5. 5.

    Daraus wird gefolgert, daß Lysolecithin in den chromaffinen Granula durch die Wirkung einer Phospholipase A2 gebildet wird und als das 1-acyl Isomer vorliegt. Subcelluläre Vorgänge, die an der Bildung von Lysolecithin im Nebennierenmark beteiligt sein könnten, werden diskutiert.

Summary

  1. 1.

    The fatty acid composition of total phospholipids and of Jecithin, lysolecithin and phosphatidylethanolamine isolated from bovine chromaffin granules was determined.

  2. 2.

    Total phospholipids are relatively rich in plasmalogens. Phosphatidylethanolamine is also rich in plasmalogen whereas lecithin contains less. Unsaturated fatty acids comprise about 60% of the total fatty acids in both of the latter phospholipids.

  3. 3.

    The lysolecithin of chromaffin granules is characterised by a high content (77%) of saturated fatty acids and a very low content (4%) of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The major fatty acid is stearic acid.

  4. 4.

    The lysolecithin formed by the action of snake venom phospholipase A2 on lecithin isolated from chromaffin granules has a fatty acid composition very similar to that of the endogenous lysolecithin.

  5. 5.

    It is concluded that the lysolecithin in chromaffin granules is formed by the action of a phospholipase A2 on lecithin and is the 1-acyl isomer. Possible sub-cellular events involved in the formation of the lysolecithin are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, UK

    H. Winkler & A. D. Smith

  2. Pharmakologisches Institut der Universität, Innsbruck, Österreich

    H. Winkler

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  1. H. Winkler
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  2. A. D. Smith
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Winkler, H., Smith, A.D. Lipids of adrenal chromaffin granules: Fatty acid composition of phospholipids, in particular lysolecithin. Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmak. u. Exp. Path. 261, 379–388 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00537182

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00537182

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