New long chain bases in lipophosphonoglycan of Acanthamoeba castellanii.

The polymer called lipophosphonoglycan (LPG) was isolated from Acanthamoeba castellanii membranes after exhaustive delipidation and butanol extraction. A novel extremely long phytosphingosine was revealed in glycoinositolphosphosphingolipid (GIPSL). All data obtained by gas-liquid chromatography coupled with MS analyses of products liberated during acid methanolysis and products of sodium metaperiodate and permanganate-periodate oxidations showed an unusual pattern of long chain bases (LCB) with branched bases (anteiso-C₂₄, anteiso-C₂₅, anteiso-C₂₆, iso-C₂₆, anteiso-C₂₇, and anteiso-C28) and normal ones (C₂₄, C₂₅, C₂₆, C₂₇). The phytosphingosines with hexa-, hepta-, and octacosanoic chains have not been detected in Acanthamoeba cells up to now. Also, the isomer configuration of long chain bases in LPG of A. castellanii was not defined in earlier reports. In the GC-MS chromatograms, the component forming a peak corresponding to anteiso-C₂₅ phytosphingosine was the most abundant and constituted more than 50 % of all LCB.