Molecular species of glycerolipids of Ehrlich ascites cells and of their fat granules.

Ehrlich ascites cells were grown in mice and were isolated by centrifugation of the ascites fluid. The cells were lysed with distilled water, and the floating fat particles were collected by centrifugation. The particles contained about 90% neutral and 10% polar lipid. The neutral lipid was made up of about 50% triacylglycerol, 30% alkyldiacylglycerol, 3% cholesteryl esters, 3% free cholesterol and 4% free diacylglycerols. The phospholipid fraction was comprised of about 50% phosphatidylcholine, 35% phosphatidylethanolamine, 10% sphingomyelin and small amounts (less than 5% total) of serine and/or inositol phosphatides. The triacylglycerol and alkyldiacylglycerol fractions possessed total carbon number and fatty acid compositions closely similar to those reported in the literature for whole ascites cells and for a cell membrane preparation. Likewise, the fatty acid composition of phospholipids from the granules in general was similar to that reported for Ehrlich ascites cells. On the basis of the polar and neutral lipid ratio, the lipid granules of the ascites cells were calculated to possess lipid core diameters of 30-50 nm, which were 40-70 times smaller than those (up to 2 mu) measured for the lipid granules of the intact cells by electron microscopy. The characterization of the lipid composition of the Ehrlich ascites lipid granules was completed by determining the molecular species composition of the diacyl, alkylacyl and alkenylacyl phosphatidylethanolamines and of the diacyl and alkylacyl phosphatidylcholines of the ascites cells. It is concluded that the alkyldiacylglycerols of the Ehrlich ascites cells occur largely in the cytoplasmic lipid granules, which appear to consist of many particles of the size and structure of very low density lipoproteins enclosed in membranous sacs.