Vetter R, Dai J, Panagia V, Dhalla N S
Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface General Hospital Research Centre, Winnipeg, Canada.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1990 Jul 31;170(2):810-6. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(90)92163-t.
Incubation of rat heart sarcolemma with the methyl donor S-adenosyl-L-[methyl-3H] methionine resulted in N-methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine and methylation of a heterogenous fraction of nonpolar lipids in the membrane. Oleic acid reduced the synthesis of N-methylated phospholipids and stimulated the methyl group incorporation into nonpolar lipids in a concentration-dependent manner. Both methylation reactions were not affected when oleic acid was substituted by methyl ester of oleic acid or by the detergents sodium deoxycholate or Triton X-100. This study suggests that the enzymatic biosynthesis of the N-methylated phospholipids may be altered by free fatty acids.
