Macrophage fatty acid composition and phagocytosis: effect of unsaturation on cellular phagocytic activity

In order to manipulate the physical properties of the macrophages membrane, methods were developed which potentiated the incorporation of exogenously supplied fatty acids into membrane lipids. Chromatograms of macrophages which were grown in the presence of a variety of fatty acids demonstrated that exogenously supplied unsaturated fatty acids (palmitoleic, oleic, elaidic, linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic acids) were readily incorporated into the cells and selectively altered the fatty acyl composition of macrophage phospholipids. Up to 38% of the total cellular phospholipids were found to be derived from the exogenously added fatty acid supplements. The incorporation of the different fatty acids into cellular phospholipids had striking effects on cellular phagocytic activity. These effects were found to correlate with the degree of unsaturation, and the cis- or trans-double bond configuration. Thus, macrophage phagocytic ingestion rates of 125I-labelled Shigella flexneri were found to alter by more than 2-fold after the cells were cultivated in the presence of cis unsaturated fatty acids.