Increase in fatty acid oxidation in calvaria cells cultured with diphosphonates

1. Cultured calvaria cells oxidized palmitate and octanoate to CO2 and water-soluble products. 2. When these cells were treated for 6 days with 0.025 and 0.25 mM-dichloromethanediphosphonate, oxidation of palmitate was increased, whereas that of octanoate was influenced less. 3. When the rate of oxidation was raised by increasing the palmitate concentration in the medium, the effect of the diphosphonate was decreased and finally disappeared. 4. 1-Hydroxyethane-1,1-diphosphonate had only minor effects. 5. The increase in palmitate oxidation appeared 2 days after the addition of dichloromethanediphosphonate, simultaneously with a fall in lactate production. (Inhibition of glycolysis by diphosphonates has already been shown.) 6. Cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, did not influence the effect of dichloromethanediphosphonate on the oxidation of palmitate and the production of lactate. 7. Cells cultured with dichloromethanediphosphonate showed a faster uptake of palmitic acid than did control cells. However, this observation did not explain the increased palmitate oxidation, since uptake was much faster than oxidation, and was therefore not the rate-limiting step. 8. 2-Bromopalmitate, an inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation, did not influence the inhibition of glycolysis by the diphosphonates. This inhibition, therefore, did not result from the increased oxidation of palmitate. It is also unlikely that the increased oxidation of palmitate is connected with the inhibition of glycolysis.