title: Membrane damage in leukemic cells induced by ether and ester lipids: an electron microscopic study.
abstract: This paper reports a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study of different leukemic cell lines exposed to 1-octadecyl-2-methyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine (ET-18-OMe). This is an ether lipid analog of platelet activating factor (1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) which inhibits neoplastic cell growth in vitro and in vivo and is believed to exert its action through an interaction with the plasma membrane. In this paper evidence of the morphological alteration of leukemic cell membranes due to the exposure to varying concentrations of ET-18-OMe in vitro and in vivo is presented. This membrane damage consists of formation of blebs and holes, and the severity of these two phenomena correlate with the degree of cell viability loss. These alterations were analyzed in comparison to those induced by the known and structurally related permeabilizing agent, lysophosphatidylcholine, an ester lipid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noseda
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Godwin
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Jerome
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Modest
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004952:Esters / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004987:Ethers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007942:Leukemia, Experimental / Q000473:pathology*; D008055:Lipids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D004952:Esters; D004987:Ethers; D008055:Lipids