Ether phospholipid molecular species in human platelets.

Molecular species of diacyl, alkenylacyl, and alkylacyl subclasses in human platelet phospholipids were quantitatively analyzed. Dinitrobenzoyldiradylglycerol derivatives prepared from phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were separated into subclasses by TLC or normal-phase HPLC. Each subclass consisting of more than 20 molecular species was quantified by reverse-phase HPLC with the eluting solvent of acetonitrile-2-propanol (80 : 20). The retention times of molecular species in the alkenylacyl and alkylacyl subclasses were approximately 1.24 and 1.56 times as long as that of the diacyl type. Phosphatidylcholine contained mostly diacyl subclass (94.5%) and small amounts of alkenylacyl (0.8%) and alkylacyl (4.7%) subclasses, while phosphatidylethanolamine was comprised of 44.2% diacyl, 54.4% alkenylacyl, and 1.4% alkylacyl subclasses. The diacyl subclass of phosphatidylcholine mainly consisted of monoenoic and dienoic molecular species, whereas the other subclasses of phosphatidylcholine and all subclasses of phosphatidylethanolamine were mostly comprised of polyenoic molecular species. The distribution of arachidonic acid-containing molecular species in the diacyl, alkenylacyl, and alkylacyl subclasses were 18.7, 48.2, and 47.9%, respectively, in phosphatidylcholine, and 60.1, 63.0, and 46.9% in phosphatidylethanolamine. Hence, the alkylacyl and alkenylacyl subclasses of phosphatidylcholine seem to play physiological roles different from the diacyl subclass in human platelets.