Regulation and location of phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol synthesis in type II cells isolated from fetal rat lung.

myo-Inositol decreases the synthesis of phosphatidylglycerol by type II cells isolated from fetal rat lung. Inositol addition also increases the synthesized amount of surfactant phosphatidylinositol. These observations indicate that at least part of the decreasing effect of inositol on phosphatidylglycerol formation is the result of competition between phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol synthesis for a common pool of CDP diacylglycerol. Studies on the subcellular localization of enzymes measured under optimal conditions suggested that the enzymic activity required for the formation of phosphatidylglycerol is located mainly in the mitochondria, but most likely also for a small part in the endoplasmic reticulum, while the enzymic activity required for phosphatidylinositol formation is located in the endoplasmic reticulum. Inositol was found to inhibit glycerolphosphate phosphatidyltransferase in the microsomal fraction but not in the mitochondrial fraction derived from the type II cells, indicating that the competition between phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol synthesis for CDP diacylglycerol takes place in the endoplasmic reticulum. This latter observation together with the observation of a switch-over from surfactant phosphatidylinositol to phosphatidylglycerol production around term indicate that the endoplasmic reticulum is the intracellular site of surfactant phosphatidylglycerol production.