[Membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids of mammalian nerve cells in culture].

We have observed some important changes in the distribution of fatty acid classes in cultured nerve cells according to the normal or tumoral origin of the cells: normal cells exhibit higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and lower levels of monounsaturated fatty acids than tumoral cells do. When the culture medium of neuroblastoma cells is supplemented with polyunsaturated fatty acids, these fatty acids are incorporated into membrane phospholipids and some specific alterations of membrane functions occur: modification of the kinetic parameters of ecto-enzyme activities, modification of amino-acid transport characteristics. A brief review of the literature shows that polyunsaturated fatty acids are not essential for cell life in vitro, provided that monounsaturated fatty acids can be present in the cells. Polyunsaturated fatty acids seem therefore play only a regulatory role of some membrane functions.