Occurrence of ceramides and neutral glycolipids with unusual long-chain base composition in purified rat liver mitochondria

• Published in: FEBS letters Vol. 488; no. 3; pp. 160 - 164
• Main Authors: Ardail, D, Popa, I, Alcantara, K, Pons, A, Zanetta, J.P, Louisot, P, Thomas, L, Portoukalian, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier B.V 19.01.2001
• Subjects: Animals; Antigens, CD; Ceramide; Ceramides - analysis; Ceramides - chemistry; Fatty Acids - analysis; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Glucosylceramides - analysis; Glucosylceramides - chemistry; Glycosphingolipid; Intracellular Membranes - chemistry; Ketosphinganine; Lactosylceramides - analysis; Lactosylceramides - chemistry; Mitochondria, Liver - chemistry; Mitochondrion; Neutral Glycosphingolipids - analysis; Neutral Glycosphingolipids - chemistry; Rats; Sphingosine - analogs & derivatives; Sphingosine - analysis; Mitochondrion; Ceramide; Ketosphinganine; Glycosphingolipid
• ISSN: 0014-5793; 1873-3468
• DOI: 10.1016/S0014-5793(00)02332-2

The free ceramide content of rat liver mitochondria was found to be 1.7 nmol/mg protein and outer membranes contained a three-fold higher concentration than inner membranes. The mitochondrial content in neutral glycolipids was 0.6 nmol/mg protein. The long-chain bases found in free ceramides were d18:1 sphingosine, d18:0 3-ketosphinganine and t21:1 phytosphingosine in increasing order. In contrast, 3-ketosphinganine was the only base of glucosylceramide and lactosylceramide of inner membranes, whereas d18:1 sphingosine was the major long-chain base of glucosylceramide of outer membranes.