Localization of phosphatidylethanolamine in microsomal membranes and regulation of its distribution by the fatty acid composition.

Rat liver microsomes were incubated with the monofunctional aminoreagent fluorescamine. Although the probe easily penetrated the membranes, two pools of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) could be detected. The first pool rapidly reacted with the probe and comprised 80% of the total PE. The second pool exhibited a very slow interaction. The two pools showed differences in fatty acid composition as well as in their sites of attachment. In vivo labeling with ethanolamine, glycerol, and palmitic and stearic acid resulted in a higher specific activity in the first pool after 1 hr; equilibration with the second pool took about 3 hr. No equilibration between the pools could be detected under in vitro conditions. In vivo incorporation of labeled fatty acids showed that palmitic and stearic acids were mainly incorporated into phosphatidylethanolamine by de novo synthesis, while linoleic and arachidonic acids were introduced through deacylation-reacylation processes. Injection of liposomes consisting of labeled synthetic phosphatidylethanolamines into the portal vein was followed by uptake by the hepatocytes and incorporation of the lipids into the microsomal membranes. Depending on the fatty acid composition of the injected lipid, one of either of the two pools became labeled. It is suggested that the fatty acid composition of a given phospholipid molecule exerts a signal function directing the lipid to its final intramembranous location.