Transbilayer movement and metabolic fate of ether-linked phosphatidic acid (1-O-Octadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate) in guinea pig peritoneal polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

1-O-Octadecyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate (octadecylacetyl-GP) and its deacetylation product were used as a model of phosphatidic acid and its lyso derivatives, respectively. The binding, transbilayer movement, and intermembranous transport, which should be related to its metabolism in guinea pig peritoneal polymorphonuclear leukocytes, were studied. The albumin extraction procedure (Tokumura, A., Tsutsumi, T., Yoshida, J., and Tsukatani, H. (1990) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1044, 91-100) was used for studying the transbilayer movement of 3H]octadecylacetyl-GP. The binding, translocation, and metabolism of octadecylacetylglycerol, a dephosphorylated product of octadecylacetyl-GP, in polymorphonuclear leukocytes were also investigated for comparison. The translocation of octadecylacetyl-GP was dependent on temperature, but not on its concentration (in the range of 1-100 nM). The rate of translocation of octadecylacetyl-GP was much slower than that of octadecylacetylglycerol. Treatment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes with N-ethylmaleimide did not affect the translocation of octadecylacetyl-GP. These results suggest that the transbilayer movement of octadecylacetyl-GP is driven by a diffusion process, not by a carrier protein. From these findings, the process of translocation of octadecylacetyl-GP is concluded to be a rate-limiting step in its metabolic conversion to triglyceride, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylcholine.