In vivo conversion of labeled fatty acids to the sphingolipid fatty acids in rat brain*

In vivo conversion of labeled fatty acids to the sphingolipid fatty acids in rat brain*

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Emulsions of carboxyl-labeled palmitate, here stearate, lignocerate, and dl-cerebronate were injected into the brains of weanling rats.After various time intervals, the rats were sacrificed, and the saturated fatty acids of the brain sphingolipids were isolated and decarboxylated.All four acids had been incorporated into the sphingolipids.The palmitate and stearate gave rise to radioactive lignocerate and cerebronate in which the carboxyl groups were relatively nonradioactive, indicating the latter acids are made by chain lengthening of the shorter acids.The lignocerate-C14 gave rise to labeled cerebronate red pygmy dogwood in which the carboxyl group contained nearly all the activity, showing that the normal acid is converted fairly directly into the hydroxy acid.

Some radioactivity was found also in the shorter acids, apparently by the intermediate degradation of lignocerate to acetate.The injected cerebronate-C14 underwent little or no conversion to normal acids.