Effect of membrane phospholipid composition changes on adenylate cyclase activity in normal and rous-sarcoma-transformed chicken embryo fibroblasts

Adenylate cyclase specific activities in membranes isolated from chicken embryo fibroblasts transformed by Rous sarcoma virus are significantly lower than the specific activity of the enzyme in normal membranes. Since normal and transformed membranes have different phospholipid and fatty acid compositions, adenylate cyclase activities were examined in normal and transformed membranes which had been supplemented with polar head groups or fatty acids. Basal, fluoride, and prostaglandin E₁-stimulated activities changed systematically with phospholipid composition. Increases in the primary amino group of the phospholipid polar head groups or the average degree of fatty acid unsaturation both inhibited adenylate cyclase activity. In general, adenylate cyclase activities in normal membranes were more sensitive to phospholipid compositional changes compared to adenylate cyclase in transformed membranes. The data indicate that the lower adenylate cyclase activities in transformed membranes are not solely attributable to phospholipid changes but do suggest that increases in the percentage of phosphatidylethanolamine may contribute to the lower adenylate cyclase activities in transformed membranes.