HOCl-mediated glycerophosphocholine and glycerophosphoethanolamine generation from plasmalogens in phospholipid mixtures.

Many mammalian tissues and cells contain, in addition to (diacyl) phospholipids, considerable amounts of plasmalogens, which may function as important antioxidants. Apart from the "scavenger" function mediated by the high sensitivity of the vinyl-ether bond, the functional role of plasmalogens is so far widely unknown. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that plasmalogen degradation products have harmful effects in inflammatory processes. In a previous investigation glycerophosphocholine (GPC) formation was verified as a novel plasmalogen degradation pathway upon oxidation with hypochlorous acid (HOCl), however these investigations were performed in simple model systems. Herein, we examine plasmalogen degradation in a more complex system in order to evaluate if GPC generation is also a major pathway in the presence of other highly unsaturated glycerophospholipids (GPL) representing an additional reaction site of HOCl targets. Using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and (31)P NMR spectroscopy, we confirmed that the first step of the HOCl-induced degradation of GPL mixtures containing plasmalogens is the attack of the vinyl-ether bond resulting in the generation of 1-lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPtdCho) or 1-lysophosphatidylethanolamine. In the second step HOCl reacts with the fatty acyl residue in the sn-2 position of 1-lysoPtdCho. This reaction is about three times faster in comparison to comparable diacyl-GPL. Thus, the generation of GPC and glycerophosphoethanolamine (GPE) from plasmalogens are relevant products formed from HOCl attack on the vinyl-ether bond of plasmalogens under pathological conditions.