PMC

Proposed reaction sequence for hepatic microsomal fatty acid elongation. The reaction scheme described below is a modification of the one described by Cinti et al (), Moon and Horton (), and Denic and Weissman ().

RP-HPLC analysis of fatty acid elongation products. Rat primary hepatocytes were treated with 100 μM 20:4,n-6 (1.6 Ci/mol) for 24 h. Lipids were extracted and saponified. Nonesterified fatty acids were separated by RP-HPLC. The distribution of ¹⁴C-fatty acids was determined by an inline β-scintillation counter (IN/US). Results are expressed as ¹⁴C-counts/sec (Y-axis) vs. retention time in minutes (x-axis). The figure illustrates the separation of arachidonic acid (20:4,n-6) and its elongation product, adrenic acid (22:4,n-6). Nonradioactive fatty acids are not shown in this figure.