Enzymes of phospholipid metabolism in the plasma membrane of Acanthamoeba castellanii.

Phospholipase A, lyophospholipase, acyl CoA hydrolase, and palmitoyl CoA synthetase are present in the plasma membrane of Acanthamoeba castellanii. The first three of these enzymes also occur in other cell fractions but in concentrations too low for the activities in the plasma membrane fraction to be accounted for by contamination by any other cell fraction. Palmitoyl CoA synthetase is restricted almost entirely to the plasma membrane and microsomal fractions; the microsomal activity is too low for the plasma membrane activity to be due to contamination by microsomes. Acyl COA:lysolecithin acyltransferase is predominantly localized in the microsomal fraction, but the activity of the plasma membrane is probably too great to be accounted for by microsomal contamination. CDPcholine:1,2-diglyceride cholinephosphotransferase is restricted almost entirely to the microsomal fraction. Phospholipase C was not detected in any cell fraction or in the growth medium.