Natural occurrence of free fatty aldehydes in bovine cardiac muscle

Free fatty acids, aldehydes, alcohols, and 1-O-alkyl and alk-1-enyl glycerols were identified and quantified in lipid extracts from bovine cardiac muscle. Although a number of components present in the free fatty aldehydes were also noted in the fatty chains in the 1-O-alk-1-enyl glycerols, a direct qualitative similarity did not exist as would be expected if the free fatty aldehydes were artifactual in origin. Also, a qualitative similarity did not exist between the fatty chains of the 1-O-alkyl and alk-1-enyl glycerols. This latter observation would suggest a mechanism other than biodehydrogenation of the alkyl ethers for the origin of the alk-1-enyl glycerols. Free fatty aldehydes were distributed evenly between the 105,000 g supernatant and particulate fractions of cardiac muscle, while the 1-O-alk-1-enyl glycerols were associated primarily with the particulate fraction. Free fatty alcohols were noted only in the supernatant fraction, while the 1-O-alkyl glycerols were present in both fractions.     

Percentage recovery of free fatty acids from bovine muscle lipids by nonchromatographic techniques

The inability of silicic acid to completely separate the neutral lipids from phospholipids has been reported by several investigators (1,2). Hornstein et al. (3) increased the polarity of the solvent system and reported a clean separation of the phospholipid fraction by adsorption on activated silicic acid. Studies on bovine lipids by Hood and Allen (2) utilized acid-washed Florisil to separate the lipid fractions claiming that silicic acid incompletely separates the free fatty acids from the phospholipids. Work performed in this laboratory (4) on bovine lipids confirmed that phospholipids could be effectively separated from free fatty acids by adsorption on silicic acid by incorporating the solvent system described by Hornstein et al. (3). The liquid-liquid partition procedure of Hamilton and McDonald (5) was also found to be sensitive enough to partition the extremely small amount of free fatty acids from the esterified fatty acids. This paper provides evidence for the effectiveness of these methods in separating the frec fatty acids by incorporating an internal standard [1-¹⁴C]palmitic acid.     

Unbound free fatty acid concentrations are increased in cardiac ischemia

Monitoring increased plasma unbound free fatty acid (FFA_u) concentrations has been proposed as a biomarker for myocardial ischemia. In the current study, 30 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients presenting in the emergency department, with chest pain within 12 h of onset, were clinically evaluated along with serial cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and FFA_u measurements. Increased FFA_u were found in 28 of 30 (93%) of ACS patients, ranging from 2.0 to 430 nM. For the nine ACS patients with myocardial infarction (MI), FFA_u levels were increased at presentation for all (100%). In contrast, cTnI was increased in only 9 of 30 (30%) patients, mean 0.7 μg/L, and in only 2 of 9 (22%) MI patients, mean 1.3 μg/L. During the 24 h following admission, cTnI increased in all 9 MI patients. FFA_u concentrations increased in every sample in which cTnI increased. Our findings suggest that FFA_u is increased in ischemia regardless of the presence or absence of myocardial necrosis, as reflected by increased or normal cTnI, respectively.     

Mass spectrometry of fatty aldehydes

Fatty aldehydes are important components of the cellular lipidome. Significant interest has been developed towards the analysis of the short chain α,β-unsaturated and hydroxylated aldehydes formed as a result of oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Multiple gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and subsequently liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) approaches have been developed to identify and quantify short-chain as well as long-chain fatty aldehydes. Due to the ability to non-enzymaticaly form Schiff bases with amino groups of proteins, lipids, and with DNA guanidine, free aldehydes are viewed as a marker or metric of fatty acid oxidation and not the part of intracellular signaling pathways which has significantly limited the overall attention this group of molecules have received. This review provides an overview of current GC/MS and LC/MS approaches of fatty aldehyde analysis as well as discusses technical challenges standing in the way of free fatty aldehyde quantitation.     

Identification of two protease inhibitors from bovine cardiac muscle

Low salt extracts from homogenates of bovine cardiac muscle contain two protease inhibitors, one specific for the calcium-activated protease from this tissue and the other for trypsin and chymotrypsin, but no other serine proteases, including plasmin, thrombin, and subtilisin. The former, which can be separated from the protease by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, is a protein with a molecular weight of 270,000. Its action is not based on the sequestering of calcium, and it is present in large excess over the amount of calcium-activated protease in this tissue. The trypsin inhibitor, which has a molecular weight of 70,000, is estimated to be present at approximately 300 microgram/g, wet weight, of tissue. The identification of inhibitors such as these in the cytoplasm may explain why nonlysosomal proteolytic activity has been thought to be insignificant in the overall turnover of intracellular protein and suggests that a re-evaluation of this possibility is necessary.     

Activation of free fatty acids in subcellular fractions of human skeletal muscle

In human pathology little is known about the activating enzymes for fatty acids of different carbon chain length. In order to have a better insight into disorders of lipid metabolism in human skeletal muscle, we studied the distribution of acyl-CoA synthetases in muscular subcellular fractions. We find that in muscle mainly long chain fatty acids are activated to CoA esters. Distribution of palmityl-CoA synthetase in subcellular fractions compared with marker enzymes suggested that this enzymatic activity is located only in the outer mitochondrial membrane, in contrast to human liver, where this enzyme is also located in the microsomes. In human skeletal muscle we also found low butyryl-CoA formation, which was limited to the mitochondrial matrix. This site of activation implies that short chain fatty acids may not depend on carnitine for their oxidation in the mitochondrial matrix, in contrast to long chain fatty acids activated in the outer mitochondrial membrane.     

Purification of phospholamban from bovine cardiac muscle with organic solvents

Phospholamban (PLB), an integral membrane protein of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum, was extracted from bovine cardiac muscle with an acidic chloroform/methanol mixture. A combination of gel permeation and ion-exchange chromatographies in organic solvents allowed the purification of PLB. The intensive use of organic solvents throughout the isolation yielded a highly purified and intact protein that can be phosphorylated by cAMP protein kinase. The ease of purification and the high yield obtained (2.5 mg/100 g of fresh tissue) show that organic solvents can be very useful in the extraction and purification of hydrophobic membrane proteins.     

Enzymic characteristics of fat globule membranes from bovine colostrum and bovine milk

Fat globule membranes have been isolated from bovine colostrum and bovine milk by the dispersion of the fat in sucrose solutions at 4 degrees C and fractionation by centrifugation through discontinuous sucrose gradients. The morphology and enzymic characteristics of the separated fractions were examined. Fractions comprising a large proportion of the total extracted membrane were thus obtained having high levels of the Golgi marker enzymes UDP-galactose N-acetylglucosamine beta-4-galactosyltransferase and thiamine pyrophosphatase. A membrane-derived form of the galactosyltransferase has been solubilized from fat and purified to homogeneity. This enzyme is larger in molecular weight than previously studied soluble galactosyltransferases, but resembles in size the galactosyltransferase of lactating mammary Golgi membranes. In contrast, when fat globule membranes were prepared by traditional procedures, which involved washing the fat at higher temperatures, before extraction, galactosyltransferase was not present in the membranes, having been released into supernatant fractions, When the enzyme released by this procedure was partially purified and examined by gel filtration, it was found to be of a degraded form resembling in size the soluble galactosyltransferase of milk. The release is therefore attributed to the action of proteolytic enzymes. Our observations contrast with previous biochemical studies which suggested that Golgi membranes do not contribute to the milk fat globule membrane. They are, however, consistent with electron microscope studies of the fat secretion process, which indicate that secretory vesicle membranes, derived from the Golgi apparatus, may provide a large proportion of the fat globule membrane.     

Isolation and identification of cholesteryl alkyl ethers from bovine cardiac muscle

Cholesteryl alkyl ethers have been isolated from bovine cardiac muscle and characterized by thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography. The fraction contained at least three homologues. Cholesteryl hexadecyl ether, which accounted for over 90% of the total components observed on gas chromatography, was identified by mass spectrometry.