A comparison of the chemical analyses of cell lipids with their complete proton NMR spectrum

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Abstract
Whole cells are made up of molecules in different environments to which NMR spectroscopy is sensitive. In particular, malignant and transformed cells contain lipids not only in bilayers but in isotropically tumbling domains which give rise to high‐resolution spectra. We have recently developed a technique for simultaneously analyzing broadline and high‐resolution signals (M. Bloom, K. T. Holmes, C. E. Mountford, and P. G. Williams, J. Magn. Reson., in press) and we report here its application to a range of rat, mouse, and human cell lines. Some selected features of the NMR spectra were compared with the chemical analysis of the whole‐cell lipid. We found that in general the proportion of protons in the narrow methylene resonance at 1.3 ppm increased with the neutral lipid content of the cells. This peak was chosen because its T2 relaxation behavior correlates with metastatic potential in a rat model system. This new technique could be applied to other high‐resolution components both in healthy and in diseased states. © 1987 Academic Press, Inc.