Advertisement
Research Articles| Volume 6, ISSUE 4, P537-544, October 01, 1965

Download started.

Ok

Lipid composition of the normal human brain: gray matter, white matter, and myelin*

  • John S. O'Brien
    Affiliations
    Division of Chemical Pathology, Departments of Pathology and Medicine, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California
    Search for articles by this author
  • E. Lois Sampson
    Affiliations
    Division of Chemical Pathology, Departments of Pathology and Medicine, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California
    Search for articles by this author
  • Author Footnotes
    * Brain Lipids III. For previous papers in this series see J. S. O'Brien, D. L. Fillerup, and J. F. Mead, J. Lipid Res. 5: 109, 1964 and 5: 329, 1964.
Open AccessPublished:October 01, 1965DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-2275(20)39619-X
Lipid composition of the normal human brain: gray matter, white matter, and myelin*
Previous ArticleDeveloping rat brain: changes in cholesterol, galactolipids, and the individual fatty acids of gangliosides and glycerophosphatides
Next ArticleFatty acid and fatty aldehyde composition of the major brain lipids in normal human gray matter, white matter, and myelin*
      This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.
      Gray matter, white matter, and myelin were isolated from the frontal lobes of humans aged 10 months, 6 yr, 9 yr, and 55 yr and the lipid compositions of each were determined. Myelin had a much higher lipid content (78–81% of the dry weight) than white matter (49–66%) or gray matter (36–40%). Myelin contained much higher molar percentages of cerebroside and cerebroside sulfate, slightly higher molar percentages of cholesterol, and lower molar percentages of ethanolamine glycerophosphatides and choline glycerophosphatides than gray matter. The molar percentages of serine glycerophosphatides and sphingomyelin were about the same in each tissue.
      The aldehyde content of glycerophosphatides, expressed as molar percentage of the total lipoidal residues in each lipid, were as follows: ethanolamine glycerophosphatides from myelin 40–50%; ethanolamine glycerophosphatides from gray matter 21–27%; serine glycerophosphatides from myelin 21–36%; serine glycerophosphatides from gray matter 0.3–3.8%. Choline glycerophosphatides from either tissue contained only traces of aldehydes.
      The extra-myelin portion of white matter had a lipid composition that was very similar to that of myelin, but quite different from that of gray matter.
      Assuming a molecular weight of 28,000 for myelin protein(s), it was calculated that for each protein molecule in human myelin there are 186 lipid molecules, 111 of which are polar lipids and 75 of which consist of cholesterol. The over-all molar ratios of the polar lipids are phosphatidal ethanolamine:serine glycerophosphatides:choline glycerophosphatides:sphingomyelin:cerebroside:cerebroside sulfate:ceramide:uncharacterized lipids 25:9:20:9:29:7:3:9. It was calculated that the molar ratio of protein amino acids to polar lipids in human myelin is 2.38 to 1.

      REFERENCES

        • Folch J.
        Waelsch H. In The Biochemistry of the Developing Nervous System. Academic Press, New York1955: 121
        • Johnson A.C.
        • McNabb A.R.
        • Rossiter R.J.
        Biochem. J. 1948; 43: 473
        • Johnson A.C.
        • McNabb A.R.
        • Rossiter R.J.
        Biochem. J. 1948; 43: 478
        • Johnson A.C.
        • McNabb A.R.
        • Rossiter R.J.
        Biochem. J. 1949; 45: 500
        • Brante G.
        Acta Physiol. Scand. Suppl. 1949; 18: 33
        • Cumings J.N.
        • Goodwin H.
        • Woodward F.M.
        • Curzon G.
        J. Neurochem. 1958; 2: 289
        • Balakrishnan S.
        • Goodwin H.
        • Cumings J.N.
        J. Neurochem. 1961; 8: 276
        • Svennerholm L.
        Folch-Pi J. Bauer H. In Brain Lipids and Lipoproteins and the Leucodystrophies. Elsevier, New York1963: 104
        • O'Brien J.S.
        Science. 1965; 147: 1099
        • Rouser G.
        • O'Brien J.S.
        • Heller D.
        J. Am. Oil Chemists Soc. 1961; 38: 14
        • O'Brien J.S.
        • Fillerup D.L.
        • Mead J.F.
        J. Lipid Res. 1964; 5: 109
        • O'Brien J.S.
        • Fillerup D.L.
        • Mead J.F.
        J. Lipid Res. 1964; 5: 329
        • Hanahan D.J.
        • Watts R.M.
        • Pappajohn D.
        J. Lipid Res. 1960; 1: 421
        • Autilio L.A.
        • Norton W.T.
        • Terry R.D.
        J. Neurochem. 1964; 11: 17
        • Rouser G.
        • Baumann A.J.
        • Kritchevsky G.
        • Heller D.
        • O'Brien J.S.
        J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 1961; 38: 544
        • Rapport M.M.
        • Lerner B.
        J. Biol. Chem. 1958; 232: 63
        • Rouser G.
        • Baumann A.J.
        • Nicolaides N.
        • Heller D.
        J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 1961; 38: 565
        • Norton W.T.
        • Brotz M.
        Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1963; 12: 198
        • Steim J.
        • Benson A.A.
        Federation Proc. 1963; 22: 299
        • Farquhar J.W.
        Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1962; 60: 80
        • Langworthy O.R.
        In Contributions to Embryology. 24. Carnegie Institution of Washington, D. C.1933: 139
        • Webster G.R.
        Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1960; 44: 109
        • Davison A.N.
        • Wajda M.
        Biochem. J. 1962; 82: 113
        • Norton W.T.
        • Autilio L.A.
        Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1965; 122: 77
        • Laatsch R.H.
        • Kies M.W.
        • Gordon S.
        • Alvord E.C.
        J. Exptl. Med. 1962; 115: 777
        • Thompson E.B.
        • Kies M.W.
        Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1965; 122: 129
        • Cuzner M.L.
        • Davison A.N.
        • Gregson N.A.
        Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1965; 122: 86
        • Gent W.G.
        • Gregson N.A.
        • Gammach D.B.
        • Raper J.H.
        Nature. 1964; 204: 553
        • Vandenheuvel F.A.
        Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1965; 122: 57
        • Hulcher F.H.
        Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 1963; 100: 237
        • Finean J.B.
        Richter D. In Metabolism of the Nervous System. Pergamon Press, London1956: 1
        • Finean J.B.
        Folch-Pi J. Bauer H. In Brain Lipids and Lipoproteins and the Leucodystrophies. Elsevier, New York1963: 57
        • Vandenheuvel F.A.
        J. Am. Oil Chemists' Soc. 1963; 40: 455

      Article info

      Publication history

      Published online: October 01, 1965
      Accepted: June 25, 1965
      Received: April 1, 1965

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-2275(20)39619-X

      Copyright

      © 1965 ASBMB. Currently published by Elsevier Inc; originally published by American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

      User license

      Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) |
      How you can reuse Information Icon
      Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0)

      Permitted

      • Read, print & download
      • Redistribute or republish the final article
      • Text & data mine
      • Translate the article
      • Reuse portions or extracts from the article in other works
      • Sell or re-use for commercial purposes

      Elsevier's open access license policy

      ScienceDirect

      Access this article on ScienceDirect

      ASBMB  ASBMB  ASBMB  ASBMB

      ISSN 0022-2275
      We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. To update your cookie settings, please visit the for this site.
      Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. except certain content provided by third parties. The content on this site is intended for healthcare professionals.


      RELX