Serine regulates phosphatidylethanolamine biosynthesis in the hamster heart.

The role of serine as a precursor and metabolic regulator for phosphatidylethanolamine biosynthesis in the hamster heart was investigated. Hearts were perfused with 50 microM [1-3H]ethanolamine in the presence or absence of serine for up to 60 min. Ethanolamine uptake was attenuated by 0.05-10 mM serine in a noncompetitive manner, and the incorporation of labeled ethanolamine into phosphatidylethanolamine was also inhibited by serine. Analysis of the ethanolamine-containing metabolites in the CDP-ethanolamine pathway revealed that the conversion of ethanolamine to phosphoethanolamine was reduced. The reduction was a result of an inhibition of ethanolamine kinase activity by an elevated pool of intracellular serine. Perfusion of the heart with 1 mM serine caused a 5-fold increase in intracellular serine pool. In order to examine the action of serine on other phosphatidylethanolamine metabolic pathways, hearts were perfused with [1-3H]glycerol in the presence and absence of serine. Serine did not cause any enhancement of phosphatidylethanolamine hydrolysis. The base-exchange reaction for phosphatidylserine formation or the decarboxylation of phosphatidylserine was not affected by serine perfusion. We conclude that circulating serine plays an important role in the modulation of phosphatidylethanolamine biosynthesis via the CDP-ethanolamine pathway in the hamster heart but does not affect the contribution of the decarboxylase pathway for phosphatidylethanolamine formation.