Fatty acid composition of phospholipids of erythrocytes of lamprey, frog, rat, and absorption spectra of their lipid extracts

• Published in: Žurnal ėvolûtsionnoj biohimii i fiziologii Vol. 50; no. 4; p. 269
• Main Authors: Zabelinskii, S A, Chebotareva, M A, Shukolyukova, E P, Krivchenko, A I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Russia (Federation) 01.07.2014
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Erythrocytes - metabolism; Evolution, Molecular; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Lampreys; Oxyhemoglobins - metabolism; Phospholipids - metabolism; Rana temporaria; Rats; Seasons
• ISSN: 0044-4529

The work deals with study of content and fatty acid composition of phospholipids as well as of absorption spectra of lipid extracts of blood erythrocytes poikilothermal and homoiothermal animals of different evolutionary levels. Objects of study were poikilothermal lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) consuming oxygen from water and the common frog (Rana temporatia) consuming it both from water and from air. Homoiothermal animals were white rats (Rattus rattus) inhabiting in the air medium. The animals were studied at the winter-spring periods. There was established the twofold predominance of the phospholipid content in the lamprey plasma as compared with erythrocytes. In frog and rat the reverse ratio was observed. Based on study of the fatty acid composition of erythrocyte phospholipids it is suggested the higher density of membranes of lamprey as compared with frog membranes. As to fatty acides of the rat blood erythrocytic fraction, they turned out to be less diverse, with almost twofold predominance of saturated over unsaturated acids and not containing the long-chained (C22) Ω3 acids. All this leads to the low unsaturation index and, accordingly, to a dense packing of fatty acids in membrane structures of rat erythrocytes. Mechanism of reversible binding of O2 molecules by hemoglobin in erythrocytes is discussed. The mechanism of interaction of O2 molecules with water molecules is likely to interfere with exchange interaction electrons of hemoglobin iron atoms and oxygen molecule. This confirms our obtained absorption spectra showing that in the lipid extract practically not containing water the heme isolated from erythrocytes is converted to hemin.