Incorporation and metabolism of stearic, oleic, linoleic andα-linolenic acids in Minimal Deviation Hepatoma 7288 C cells

Minimal Deviation Hepatoma 7288 C cells were cultured in confluent layer with labeled stearic, oleic, linoleic andα-linolenic acids. The kinetics of incorporation and conversion to higher homologs was studied. The maximum amounts incorporated in nmoles per mg of cellular protein for stearic, oleic, linoleic andα-linolenic acids were 39, 115.6, 90 and 230 respectively.α-linolenic acid was converted to octadeca-6,9,12,15-tetraenoic acid (18:4), eicosa-11,14,17-trienoic acid (20:3), eicosa-8,11,14,17 and 5,11,14,17-tetraenoic acids (20:4) and eicosa-5,8,11,14,17-pentaenoic acid (20:5), and also to myristic, palmitic, palmitoleic, stearic and oleic acids. By a mathematical approach, the endogenous pool size ofα-linolenic acid available for conversion to eicosa-5,8,11,14,17-pentaenoic acid, and the capacity of the cell to convertα-linolenic acid to eicosa-5,8,11,14,17-pentaenoic acid, were calculated. Both values decreased when the cells were preincubated with unlabeledα-linolenic acid.