Altered membrane lipid composition in a human meningosarcoma

Summary

In a sample of meningosarcoma, obtained at the time of surgery, the amount of total gangliosides and phospholipids was examined, together with the cholesterol content and the distribution of different ganglioside and phospholipid species. The phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate, phosphatidylinositol-4, 5-bisphosphate and phosphatidylcholine fatty acid composition was also analyzed. The ganglioside pattern in the meningosarcoma was different from the previously reported pattern in meningiomas of different histological origin, showing a higher concentration of GD₃, indicating that the so-called b pathway of ganglioside biosynthesis was the preferred one in this type of tumor; moreover the percentage content of polysialylated gangliosides was very low. Cholesterol and phospholipid content was lower than in meningiomas; the phosphatidylcholine increase and the sphingomyelin decrease would indicate a lower membrane microviscosity, a characteristic of tumor cells. Phosphoinositide and phosphatidylcholine fatty acid analysis revealed a considerable amount of docosahexaenoic acid. This abnormal presence of this fatty acid could lead to the production, after receptor stimulation, of a diacylglycerol containing docosahexaenoic acid, which, in turn, could be responsible for an altered activation pattern of protein kinase C, in this way promoting carcinogenesis.