title: [Synthesis of paf-acether by E. coli K12].
abstract: Paf-acether (platelet-activating factor) is one of the most potent mediator of inflammation released from and acting on most cells that participate in inflammatory diseases. Its molecular structure is 1-O-alkyl-2-O-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine. Two metabolic steps are involved in its biosynthesis: the action of a phospholipase A2 on choline-containing membrane alkyl-ether lipids results in the production of lyso paf-acether and acetylation of the lyso compound by an acetyltransferase yields the biologically active molecule. Membrane alkyl-ether lipids can therefore be considered as potential precursors of paf-acether and their composition has been studied in various cell types. In this work, we investigated the presence of paf-acether in E. coli. Our results showed that paf-acether can be obtained from E. coli K12 under a variety of bacterial growth conditions. Paf-acether from E. coli exhibited the same physicochemical and biological characteristics as synthetic paf-acether and that from eucaryotic cells. Therefore, it appears that E. coli itself has the ability of producing paf-acether, a result that could be of some importance with respect to the pathogenesis of Enterobacteria and the use of E. coli in the recombinant DNA technology.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D010972:Platelet Activating Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D010972:Platelet Activating Factor
vernacular_title: Synthèse du paf-acéther par E. coli K12.