Abstract
Recent studies suggest that the lamellar bodies in lung tissue contain enzymes involved in the lecithin biosynthetic pathway. Phosphatidyl choline transferase (PCT), very possibly the rate-limiting enzyme in the lecithin biosynthetic pathway, has been described in fetal lung; however, the distinction has not been made between PCT activity in lamellar bodies and that in microsomes, a known site of lecithin biosynthesis. This study assessed lecithin biosynthesis by measuring the activity of PCT in these two subcellular fractions obtained from lung of New Zealand White rabbits of gestational age 25-31 days and postnatally to age 10 days. The lamellar and microsomal fractions were prepared by differential centrifugation, and their PCT activities were measured using the precursor, (14C)-CDP-choline. In both sub-cellular fractions, PCT activity reached an initial peak on the 28th day of gestation after which the activity dropped dramatically at term, followed by a gradual rise beginning between the 5th and 8th postnatal day. At the 28 day peak, lamellar body PCT activity was double that in the microsomal fraction. The demonstration of high levels of PCT activity in the lamellar body fraction leads to the consideration of the lamellar bodies as a major site of lecithin biosynthesis as well as storage.
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Matsuyama, C., Bloom, R., Percy, A. et al. PHOSPHATIDYL CHOLINE TRANSFERASE: PRE-AND POST-NATAL ACTIVITY IN RABBIT LUNG MICROSOMES AND LAMELLAR BODIES. Pediatr Res 11, 575 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197704000-01232
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197704000-01232