Reduction of opioid binding in neuroblastoma x glioma cells grown in medium containing unsaturated fatty acids.

Neuroblastoma x glioma cells NG108-15 were cultured in lipid-free medium supplemented with fatty acids of various chain length and unsaturation. Binding of 3H-labelled [DAla2]-[DLeu5]-enkephalin by membranes of cells grown in saturation fatty acids of different chain length was not significantly different from that of the control On the other hand, a proportional decrease of binding capacity with no change in residual receptor affinity was noticed when cells were cultured in medium containing fatty acids of increasing unsaturation. This decrease was time dependent and reached a maximum at about 48 h. Binding of [3H]dihydromorphine and [3H]naloxone was similarly affected. In contrast, when membranes of cells grown in normal medium were preincubated up to 3 h with unsaturated fatty acid and tested for opioid binding, no significant reduction was observed. Examination of the fatty acid composition of phospholipid from cells grown in linolenate indicated that a significant alteration of the acyl composition has occurred. To evaluate the underlying cause of this type of inhibition, the effect of linolenic acid on cell growth and protein synthesis was examined. When cells were cultured in 100 microM of this fatty acid, both growth and protein synthesis were retarded by 28% and 19%, respectively. Since opiate receptors are proteineous in nature, a reduction of protein synthesis may partially account for the loss of opioid binding activity. On the other hand, an increase of membrane fluidity is known to affect a number of cellular functions, including ligand-receptor recognition. Whether this can offer a satisfactory explanation for our observations remains to be established.