Metabolic incorporation of 9-(2-anthryl)-nonanoic acid, a new fluorescent and photoactivable probe, into the membrane lipids of Chinese hamster ovary cells.

9-(2-Anthryl)-nonanoic acid is a new fluorescent and photoactivable probe, which has been designed for studying the lateral diffusion rate and the lateral distribution of lipids in biological membranes by means of the anthracene photodimerization reaction. It is shown that this anthracene fatty acid is metabolically incorporated into the glycerophospholipids (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol) of the eukaryotic Chinese hamster ovary cells in culture. Under our culture conditions (Eagle's minimal essential medium plus delipidized fetal calf serum) this incorporation proceeded with a very good rate (up to 45 mol/100 mol, after two days culture) and could be easily modulated depending on the way the cells were fed with the anthracene fatty acid. It occurred to a similar extent at the sn-1 (55 +/- 5%) or at the sn-2 (45 +/- 5%) position on the phospholipid glycerol backbone, without any degradation or elongation. No double labelling at the sn-1 and sn-2 positions was detected. Although incorporation of the anthracene fatty acid affected the cell growth rate (generation time of 48 h compared to a generation time of 21 h for control cells) it did not bring about cell mortality. This incorporation took place not only into the phospholipids but also into the triglycerides with, as a consequence, the appearance of strongly fluorescent lipid vesicles inside the cells. It affected the whole cell fatty acid composition by slightly increasing the amount of palmitic acid and markedly decreasing the amount of stearic and oleic acids.