| Abstract: | The labeling with radiolabeled acetate and palmitate of lung, microsomes isolated from lung, and surfactant phospholipids from adult, 3-day-old, and newborn rabbits was studied. The half-life of phosphatidylcholine from lung and microsomal fractions was shorter when labeled with acetate than when labeled with palmitate. Half-time values similarly measured for phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol or phosphatidylethanolamine were not different for the two labels. Acetate and palmitate-labeled phospholipids appeared in the surfactant fraction with similar accumulation curves. The relative specific activities of acetate-labeled phosphatidylcholine from adult, 3-day-old, and newborn rabbits, respectively, were 1.30, 1.86 and 1.77 times those measured for those measured for the palmitate label. Surfactant phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylethanolamine from 3-day-old animals similarly were labeled preferentially with acetate. However, phosphatidylglycerol purified from the surfactant fraction contained equivalent relative amounts of the acetate and palmitate labels in 3-day-old and adult rabbits. These results suggest that the type II pneumocyte may use acetate preferentially for the synthesis of palmitic acid which then is incorporated into surfactant phospholipids. |
