Effects of fasting on phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis in hamster liver: regulation of cholinephosphotransferase activity by endogenous argininosuccinate.

The control of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis in the hamster liver was examined. Livers of hamsters fasted for 24 and 48 h were perfused with labelled choline. Under both fasting conditions, the incorporation of labelled choline into phosphatidylcholine was reduced. After 48 h of fasting, the 52% reduction in phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis was caused by changes in several factors including a diminishing rate of choline uptake and severe reductions in the pool sizes of ATP and CTP (to 33-37% control values) which resulted in a decrease in the pools of choline-containing metabolites. The activation of cytidylyltransferase after 48 h of fasting might be regarded as a compensatory mechanism for the maintenance of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis. After 24 h of fasting, a 25% reduction in phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis was observed. The ATP and CTP levels were decreased but the reduction was not severe enough to affect the choline uptake or the labelling of the phosphocholine fraction. The activities of the cytidylyltransferase remained unchanged but an accumulation of labelled CDP-choline was detected. Although choline-phosphotransferase activity was not changed in the microsomes, the enzyme activity was attenuated in the postmitochondrial fraction. Further analysis revealed that cholinephosphotransferase in the liver was inhibited by an endogenous inhibitor in the cytosol which was later identified as argininosuccinate. The level of argininosuccinate was elevated during fasting and the change quantitatively accounted for the attenuation of cholinephosphotransferase activity. The inhibition of choline-phosphotransferase by argininosuccinate, coupled with a substantial decrease in the diacylglycerol level, would provide the hamster liver with an immediate mechanism for the transient modulation of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis during short-term fasting.