| First Author | Agbaga MP | Year | 2018 |
| Journal | J Lipid Res | Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 1586-1596 |
| PubMed ID | 29986998 | Mgi Jnum | J:264632 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6197356 | Doi | 10.1194/jlr.M082495 |
| Citation | Agbaga MP, et al. (2018) Differential composition of DHA and very-long-chain PUFAs in rod and cone photoreceptors. J Lipid Res 59(9):1586-1596 |
| abstractText | Long-chain PUFAs (LC-PUFAs; C20-C22; e.g., DHA and arachidonic acid) are highly enriched in vertebrate retina, where they are elongated to very-long-chain PUFAs (VLC-PUFAs; C 28) by the elongation of very-long-chain fatty acids-4 (ELOVL4) enzyme. These fatty acids play essential roles in modulating neuronal function and health. The relevance of different lipid requirements in rods and cones to disease processes, such as age-related macular degeneration, however, remains unclear. To better understand the role of LC-PUFAs and VLC-PUFAs in the retina, we investigated the lipid compositions of whole retinas or photoreceptor outer segment (OS) membranes in rodents with rod- or cone-dominant retinas. We analyzed fatty acid methyl esters and the molecular species of glycerophospholipids (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine) by GC-MS/GC-flame ionization detection and ESI-MS/MS, respectively. We found that whole retinas and OS membranes in rod-dominant animals compared with cone-dominant animals had higher amounts of LC-PUFAs and VLC-PUFAs. Compared with those of rod-dominant animals, retinas and OS membranes from cone-dominant animals also had about 2-fold lower levels of di-DHA (22:6/22:6) molecular species of glycerophospholipids. Because PUFAs are necessary for optimal G protein-coupled receptor signaling in rods, these findings suggest that cones may not have the same lipid requirements as rods. |
