THE BIOSYNTHESIS FROM ACETATE-1-C14OF FATTY ACIDS AND CHOLESTEROL IN FORMED BLOOD ELEMENTS

Abstract

The biogenesis, in vitro, of cholesterol and fatty acids from acetate-1-C14 in the cellular elements of blood has been studied. From the results obtained it is apparent that whereas the normocytes (nucleated) from the chicken and from the mammal (nonnucleated) are devoid of the capacity to synthesize cholesterol and fatty acids, the reticulocytes and the normoblasts from the rabbit, with an experimentally produced reticulocytosis, possess the ability to synthesize these lipids. Studies on the leucocytes from normal mammalian blood and thymus tissue showed little or no activity. On the other hand, the leucocytes from the thymus tissue and blood of chickens and from the blood of a patient with chronic myelocytic leukemia and from another with monocytic leukemia (Naegeli type) were capable of utilizing C14-acetate for the synthesis of lipids. The leucocytes from patients with chronic lymphatic leukemia were found to be devoid of this activity.