Formation of diacylglycerol and degradation of phosphatidylinositol induced in rat lymphocytes by non-esterified oleic or linoleic acid.

Rat spleen lymphocytes were incubated for 3 h with [14C]arachidonic acid in foetal calf serum. It was found that arachidonic acid distributed into phospholipids in the order phosphatidylcholine greater than phosphatidylethanolamine greater than phosphatidylinositol. After labelling with arachidonic acid the lymphocytes were washed, and incubated for up to 2 h with non-radioactive palmitic, oleic or linoleic acid dissolved in ethanol. The presence of ethanol or palmitic acid during a 2 h post-incubation had little effect on the amount of radioactivity found in different lipid fractions. Both oleic acid and linoleic acid, however, brought about an accumulation (up to 8-fold) of radioactivity in the diacylglycerol fraction. These fatty acids also brought about a change of radioactivity in several phospholipids, notably in phosphatidylinositol, which lost more than 50% of its counts during the 2 h incubation. Although maximum effects were seen at 2 h, diacylglycerol radioactivity was increased by 100% within 5 min after adding the fatty acids. The minimum concentration of fatty acids used (50 microM) gave an almost maximum response. The results indicate that unsaturated fatty acids may activate phosphatidylinositol phosphodiesterase in lymphocytes, as they do in brain. The possibility that a phospholipase A is activated is discussed. Possible implications for any experiments in which cells are incubated with fatty acids are pointed out.