The metabolism of sulphatides in cerebral tissues

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Abstract
The incorporation of radioactive sulphate into the sulphatides of guinea pig cerebral slices is dependent upon oxidative phosphorylation. Glucose or pyruvate was essential for maximum incorporation; mannose and fructose were less effective than glucose, while succinate, citrate, fumarate and glutamate did not support incorporation. Dispersions of whole brain activated sulphate via the adenosylsulphatophosphate system at rates up to 20 [mu]moles/g. wet wt. of tissue/hr. Sulphatides added to this system containing S35O42- did not exchange sulphate, nor was any sulphate liberated from added sulphatide by incubation for up to 24 hr. In the intact slice the incorporation of radioactive sulphate in 2 hr. amounted to only 0.1-0.15% of the sulphate in the medium. It is concluded that the sulphatides of brain are metabolically inert and may be localized in the myelin sheath. The incorporation of sulphate into the sulphatides of the brain slices is considered to be the result of a total synthesis of new sulphatide.