Effects of density-dependent inhibition of growth on phospholipid metabolism in monolayer cultures of animal cells.

The onset of density-dependent inhibition of growth is correlated with a change in the synthesis of the major phospholipids of either BHK-21 (hamster) and 3T3 (mouse) cells. The change consists of inhibition of phosphatidylcholine synthesis while the synthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine remains constant or increases. The incorporation of radioactive precursors reflects turnover rates, since no significant differences were observed in phospholipid composition. No major differences in fatty acyl chains of these same phospholipids were observed as a function of growth rate despite considerable individuality of relative patterns of polar lipids in both cell lines. No other density-dependent differences in phospholipid metabolism were observed which were common to both cell lines. These results suggest that major aspects of growth regulation may be metabolic rather than compositional and that regulation of the enzymes of lipid metabolism may be useful probes of effector mechanisms in growth control.