A recent study demonstrated that phospholipase B (PLB), lysophospholipase (LPL) and lysophopholipase transacylase (LPTA) are secreted by Cryptococcus neoformans var. neoformans and showed that the amount of enzyme production correlated with virulence in mice. The present study characterised the extracellular enzyme activities further by radiometric assays and 31 P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). All three enzymes were most active between 25 and 40OC. Bovine lung surfactant and its major lipid components, disaturated phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol, were the optimal substrates for PLB. Lysophosphatidylcholine was the favoured substrate for LPL and LPTA. PLB and LPL/LPTA were differentially affected by Triton X-100, and palmitoyl carnitine was a potent inhibitor of the three phospholipases. LPL and PLB activities were inhibited by dithiothreitol; N-ethylmaleimide inhibited LPL and LPTA activities. None of the enzymes was inhibited by N-bromosuccinimide or p-bromophenacyl bromide. Cellular disruption experiments indicated that > 85% of the phospholipase activities were cell-associated, with LPL and LPTA being more easily released than PLB. At pH 5.5 and 7.0, the heat-inactivated secreted enzyme preparations decreased the viability of human neutrophils. This effect was attenuated by active supernates. The relative activities of the PLB, LPL and LPTA in the environment of neutrophils are likely to determine the fate of these cells in vivo. Both phospholipases and heat-stable substances secreted by C. neoformans at 37°C could contribute to membrane degradation and virulence.

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31P Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of human erythrocyte lysates dissolved in sodium cholate were acquired. The narrow resonances of phospholipids were mostly well resolved, allowing identification and accurate quantitative analysis of phospholipid classes of the erythrocyte membranes. The ether-linked phosphatidylethanolamine components of the erythrocyte membranes were identified, based on the removal of plasmalogens by acidolysis and of diacyl phospholipid species by degradation using phospholipase A1. It was also shown that the introduction of double bonds on the acyl chains of phosphatidylcholine shifted the 31P NMR resonances to lower frequencies. Quantitative analyses of phospholipids from the spectra were based on their apparent molar concentrations. The recoveries of phospholipids from erythrocytes were significantly higher than those using conventional extraction procedures.

Lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin, LPS) exerts potent proinflammatory effects on neutrophils which may involve membrane phospholipid metabolism. The cellular and plasma membrane phospholipid composition of resting neutrophils and those stimulated with 50 pg ml-' LPS were studied by "P NMR and chemical analysis. A rapid new method for plasma membrane purification was employed, involving the direct lysis of cytoplasts. Chemical analyses showed that, although total cellular phospholipid content did not change with LPS stimulation, there was twice the amount of phospholipid present in plasma membranes isolated from stimulated cells, resulting in a lowered cholesterol/phospholipid ratio. Since internal membranes have lower cholesterol content this result is consistent with an origin from insertion of these membranes (most probably from the endoplasmic reticulum) into the plasma membrane, thereby increasing its fluidity. The individual phospholipid classes of both cells and membranes were quantified by "P-NMR spectroscopy after dissolution in sodium cholate without prior extraction of lipids, allowing partial resolution of the major phospholipid classes and ether-linked phospholipids. Ether-linked lipids were distinguished froin diacyl phospholipids by hydrolysis of lipid extracts with HCl and phospholipase A , . There was a significant increase in phosphatidylserine in both cells and plasma membranes after stimulation, with a decrease in the phosphatidylethanolamine (diacyl and plasmalogen) content in the cells. Plasma membranes from stimulated cells exhibited a significant decrease in a phospholipid tentatively identified as 2-arachidonoyl-l-alkyl-slz-glycero-3-phosphocho~ine, a precursor of the lipid inflammatory mediator, platelet-activating factor. This report is the first to elaborate the changes in phospholipid composition in human neutrophils as a whole, and in plasma membranes separated from them, before and after stimulation by the physiological activator, LPS.Keywm-ds: neutrophil ; membrane ; phospholipid: "P-NMR; lipopolysaccharide.Stimulation of human neutrophils with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS, endotoxin). a major lipid component of gramnegative bacterial cell walls, results in the synthesis of prostaglandin E2 and inflammatory cytokines including interleukin lp, interleukin-6 and tuinour necrosis factor-rx (Rodewald et al., 1994). In addition, LPS may prime neutrophils for an enhanced

The cosecretion of pancreatic lipase and colipase are important in normal fat digestion. As adsorption of phosphatidylcholine to the lipid substrate interferes with lipase activity, hydrolysis to lysophosphatidylcholine with subsequent desorption is also essential for fat digestion. There are some data regarding the secretion of pancreatic phospholipases in normal adults but none in children or patients with pancreatic disease. In the present study, we aimed a) to develop an accurate fast assay method to measure phospholipase A 2 and b) to determine the secretion rate of pancreatic phospholipase A 2 and whether it is cosecreted with lipase and colipase in children with exocrine pancreatic dysfunction. Nine male patients aged 0.5 to 16 y (seven with cystic fibrosis, two with malabsorption) underwent pancreatic stimulation tests. Their colipase and lipase secretion rates were measured by titrimetric methods and phospholipase A 2 and A 1 by phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 31 P NMR). It was found that the phospholipases, colipase, and lipase were absent in the two patients with pancreatic insufficiency. In patients with normal absorption, there were marked inter-and intrasubject variations of lipase, colipase, and phospholipase secretion rates that were consistent with the degree of exocrine pancreatic dysfunction. However, in the three 20-min stimulation periods of the pancreatic function test, pancreatic phospholipase is cosecreted with lipase and colipase, and average colipase and phospholipase A 2 secretion rates follow a similar or parallel pattern. These findings are consistent with the important role of pancreatic phospholipases in intestinal phospholipid hydrolysis leading to the desorption of phospholipids from the lipid substrate and enhancing lipid hydrolysis and phospholipid absorption. Abbreviations CEH, carboxyl ester hydrolase CF, cystic fibrosis GPC, glycerophosphocholine lysoPC, lysophosphatidylcholine MCC, mucocutaneous candidiasis and polyendocrinopathy NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance PC, phosphatidylcholine PLA 1 , phospholipase A 1 PLA 2 , phospholipase A 2 PI, pancreatic insufficient PS, pancreatic sufficient Exocrine pancreatic function has been well characterized in children with pancreatic disease with the use of quantitative pancreatic function tests (1-3). To determine the relationship between residual pancreatic function and fat absorption, sensitive titrimetric assays were developed for lipase and the lipase cofactor colipase (4) and their secretion rates compared with fecal fat excretions in children with CF, Shwachman syndrome, or controls (3,5). These studies demonstrated that patients with normal fat absorption had a wide range of enzyme/coenzyme secretion from less than 5% up to within the normal control range; and the threshold for lipolytic failure was near 1% of average control colipase values, i.e. patients with values below this level had fat malabsorption and above this level normal absorption. These observations led to the currently accepted definition that patie...