Nonequilibration of acetyl units from fatty acids and glucose in mammary glands of lactating mice.

Lipid synthesis by lactating mouse mammary gland slices from [1-carbon14] propionate, [1-carbon14] valerate, and [1-carbon-14] heptanoate, in the presence of glucose and from [uniformly labeled carbon-14] glucose in the presence of propionate, valerate, and heptanoate was studied. Regardless of the labeled substrate, almost all of the radioactivity incorporated into the total lipid fraction was in triglycerides. In experiments with labeled glucose and either the propionic. the valeric, or the heptylic acid, the carbon-14 fatty acids in triglycerides were almost exclusively composed of even-chain fatty acids. When the substrate was either [1-carbon-14] propionate, [1-carbon-14] valerate, or [1-carbon-14] heptanoate, in the presence of glucose, the pattern changed to one in which a larger proportion of the radioactivity was in the odd-chain fatty acids. These findings suggest that in mouse mammary gland, acetyl units produced via beta-oxidation of fatty acids may not equilibrate with those formed from oxidation of pyruvate which is derived from glucose.