Dependency of sulfatide synthesis upon Glucose and D-ßOHbutyrate concentration in the medium of dissociated mouse brain cell cultures

Abstract

Sulfatide Synthesis (SfS) serving as an indicator for brain cell development was assessed as ³⁵SO4 incorporation into sulfatide of dissociated brain cells. These were gained at birth and cultured for 13 days at which age SfS is active in vivo and in vitro. SfS was expressed as dpm ³⁵S-sulfatide/mg cell protein. The effect on SfS of varying concentrations of Glucose and D-βOHbutyrate in the medium between 10 and 13 days in culture was studied and compaired to control cultures containing the usual Glucose concentration in brain cultures (27 mM). SfS was dependent upon Glucose concentration being 55± 24% of controls at 6.5 mM, 16± 7% at 4.2 mM and 7± 5% at 0 mM Glucose (all sign. different from controls, p<0.001). D-βOHbutyrate (2.1 and 4.2 mM) was able to replace Glucose allowing a SfS of 19± 13% and 22± 10% (sign. different from 0 mM Glucose, p<0.005). Addition of D-βOHbutyrate-3-C¹⁴ (specific activity 1 μCi/4.2 mM) yielded ¹⁴CO2 corresponding to an utilization of 4.5 μg D-βOHbutyrate/mg protein/3 hours through the Krebs cycle indicating that D-βOHbutyrate was used as a source of energy. This system of cultured brain cells may serve as a model to study the effect of various fuels on brain cell metabolism and development.

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