754 VII. LIPID DISTRIBUTION IN SPECIFIC TISSUES 



(2) The Lipid Distribution in Brain Cells 



Tyrrell and Richter, 290 using the Richter and Hullin technic 291 for the 

 isolation of cell nuclei from the rest of the cell, determined the percentage 

 composition of the nuclei of brain cells, and calculated the composition of 

 the cytoplasm. Their data, as well as those of Brante, 292 are summarized 

 in Table 12. 



Table 12 



The Distribution of Lipids between the Nuclei and the 



Cytoplasm in Human Brain Cortex 



Cytoplasm 



of nerve 



cells 



Medullary Whole Cell and axis 



sheath, 6 cortex, c nuclei," cylinders, c 



Substance analyzed % moist wt. % dry wt. % dry wt. % dry wt. 



Cholesterol 8.4 5.3 4.1 



Cerebrosides 9.8 4 8 10.0 



Total phospholipids 15.3 19.7 13.0 18.4 



Lecithins 2.4 5.2 4.4 9.2 



Cephalins 4 2 11.6 6.5 9.2 



Phosphatidylethanolamine — — 9.2 



Phosphatidylserine 4.2 — 



Acetal phosphatides 3.9 ■ — — 



Sphingomyelin 4.8 2.9 2.1 



Gangliosides — — 4.1 



a Adapted from E. Klenk, Der chemische Aufbau der Nervenzellen und der Nervenfasern, 

 Colloquium Ges. physiol. Chemie, Mosbach, Baden, April 26-27, 1952. 



6 G. Brante, Acta Physiol. Scand., 18, Suppl. 63, 7-189, Appendix A, 1-24; Appendix 

 B, i-xxviii (1949). 



c L. W. Tyrrell and D. Richter, Biochem. J., 49, li-lii (1951). 



The most striking variation in the distribution of lipids in the brain cell 

 is the lower concentration of all phospholipids in the cell nuclei as com- 

 pared with the cytoplasm, and the higher concentration of cerebrosides in 

 the nuclei as contrasted with their level in the rest of the cell. This may 

 indicate that some specific function in given areas of the cell is mediated 

 by particular lipids. 



In recent studies of Petersen and Schou, 293 it was found that the concen- 



290 L. W. Tyrrell and D. Richter, Biochem. J., 49, li-lii (1951). 



291 D. Richter and R. P. Hullin, Biochem. J., 48, 406-410 (1951). 



292 G. Brante, Acta Physiol. Scand., 18, Suppl. 68, 7-189, Appendix A., 1-24, Appendix 

 B, i-xxviii (1949). 



293 v. P. Petersen and M. Schou, XIX Intern. Physiol. Congress (Montreal, Aug.- 

 Sept., 1953), Abst., 676-677 (1953). 



