Neutral lipids from the skin of the rhino mutant mouse.

The neutral lipids of the skin of the Rhino mutant mouse consist mainly of fatty acid esters of sterols, fatty alcohols and 1,2-alkane diols, with strikingly low amounts of triacylglycerols. Fatty acids of wax and sterol esters were predominantly even chain monounsaturates (63 per cent) between C16 and C36 with a surprisingly high proportion of long chain lengths: the principal peaks corresponded to C32, C34, C18, C30, and C22 monoenes. The fatty alcohols showed a somewhat similar pattern, but with an even greater preponderance of long chain lengths and only small proportions shorter than C24. sterols included cholesterol, as expected, but only to the extent of about 28 per cent; the larger fraction was shown to be lathosterol (5alpha-cholest-7-en-3beta-ol). The largest single fraction (35.6 per cent) of cutaneous lipids consisted of fatty acid esters of 1.2-alkane diols. The 1,2-alkane diols were completely saturated and included odd and even chain lengths, both straight and branched, in the C16-C24 range: predominant peaks were C20, C22(iso), C16, and C22. Fatty acids of diol esters ranged between C14-C36 with major concentrations of C18, C22, C32, and C34 monounsaturates and C20 and C16 saturates.