Radiolabeling of the lipids of chinese hamster ovary cells with the probe [3-(trifluoromethyl)-3-(m-[125I]iodophenyl)diazirine].

[125I]TID [3-(trifluoromethyl)-3-(m-[125I]iodophenyl)diazirine] is a commercially available, hydrophobic, photoactivatable, gamma-emitting reagent mostly used to label protein hydrophobic domains. It has also been used to radiolabel the phospholipids of lung surfactant (Gilliard et al., Anal. Biochem. 193, 310-315, 1991). Since a nonspecific, highly sensitive, lipid-labeling probe would be a very useful tool to investigate lipid-protein interactions in biological membranes, we characterized further the [125I]TID-labeling products of lipids from cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells (IR-CHO). After labeling of whole cells, TLC analysis followed by autoradiography enabled detection of sphingomyelin, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine, cardiolipin, diglycerides, cholesterol and its esters, and triglycerides. Analysis of the radioactivity associated with the saponification products of different lipids showed that [125I]TID was mostly (80%) extracted with the fatty acid moiety of the lipids whereas 20% remained associated with the hydrosoluble moiety. Similar radioactivity profiles were observed after labeling of whole cells or extracted and liposome-reconstituted lipids; the [125I]TID probe was able to diffuse in all intracellular organelles. Labeling was not equivalent between the different lipid classes, and it appeared that the amount of associated radioactivity correlated well with the degree of lipid unsaturation. This was confirmed by studying [125I]TID incorporation in phosphatidylcholines of different chain length and unsaturation. Taken together, our data demonstrate that [125I]TID can be used as a radiolabel for lipids in cultured cells. It is rapidly incorporated in the hydrophobic part of membranes, diffuses into all cellular compartments, and labels all lipid classes, including phospholipids, cholesterol, and glycerides, with a sensitivity in the nanomolar range.