Manipulation of fatty acid composition in animal cells grown in culture

The fatty acid composition of animal cells cultured in serum-free medium can be manipulated when the synthesis of endogenous fatty acids is inhibited by a biotin analog and fatty acids are supplied in the medium as detergent esters of Tween. When mouse LM cells were grown in medium supplemented with Tween-19:0 (an ester of Tween and nonadecanoic acid), odd chain fatty acid content of cellular phospholipids and neutral lipids increased from 1% to 75%. Concurrently, the saturated fatty acid content increased from 27% to 85%. Similar alterations in fatty acid content have been observed when BHK(21) cells are subjected to the same enrichment regime. The ability to control the fatty acid composition of cultured animal cells is a prerequisite to investigations into the role of the membrane lipid physical state in processes unique to these cells.