A coenzyme A-independent transacylase is linked to the formation of platelet-activating factor (PAF) by generating the lyso-PAF intermediate in the remodeling pathway.

The remodeling pathway for the biosynthesis of platelet-activating factor (PAF) consists of the following reaction sequence: alkylacylglycerophosphocholine----lyso-PAF----PAF. Results presented in this article describe a novel transacylase activity that generates the lyso-PAF intermediate, which can then be acetylated to form PAF. Ethanolamine-containing lysoplasmalogens, 1-acyl-2-lyso-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, alkyllysophosphoethanolamine, unlabeled lyso-PAF, 1-acyl-2-lyso-GPC, where GPC is sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, and choline-containing lysoplasmalogens were all able to stimulate the formation of [3H]lyso-PAF from a [3H]alkylacyl-GPC precursor pool associated with HL-60 cell (granulocytic type) membranes. Other glycerolipids containing free hydroxyl groups (3-alkyl-2-lyso-sn-glycero-1-phosphocholine, lysophosphatidylserine, lysophosphatidylinositol, diacylglycerols, alkylglycerols, and monoacylglycerols), cholesterol, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylethanolamine had no stimulatory effect on the release of [3H]lyso-PAF from the prelabeled membranes under identical incubation conditions. The observed transacylase reaction is directly coupled to PAF production, since the addition of a lysoethanolamine plasmalogen preparation to HL-60 membranes in the presence of [14C]acetyl-CoA stimulated PAF formation; under these conditions the lysoethanolamine plasmalogen was acylated. The transacylase responsible for the release of lyso-PAF from the membrane-associated alkylacyl-GPC was not affected by Ca2+, EGTA, or a known phospholipase A2 inhibitor, p-bromophenacyl bromide. The fact that the unnatural analog of lyso-PAF, lysophosphatidylserine, and lysophosphatidylinositol did not influence transacylase activity, whereas detergents such as deoxycholate and Triton X-100 inhibited the activity, demonstrated the observed stimulatory effects of the choline- and ethanolamine-containing lysophospholipids on the formation of [3H]lyso-PAF from [3H]alkylacyl-GPC were not due to any detergent property of these lysophospholipids. Thus, we conclude a CoA-independent transacylase (possessing phospholipase A2/acyltransferase activities) can be responsible for the formation of the lyso-PAF intermediate in the remodeling route of PAF biosynthesis.