Phospholipid distribution in murine mammary adenocarcinomas induced by activated neu oncogene

The aim of this study was to analyze possible changes in the total phospholipid distribution in murine mammary adenocarcinomas induced in transgenic mice by the tissue-specific expression of the neu oncogene, as compared with normal tissues. To understand whether the altered phospholipid profile might be specifically tissue-related to the oncogene expression, phospholipid composition also has been analyzed in liver, kidney, lung, and spleen. The data indicate that only tumor mammary tissues show a drastic increase of the total phospholipid content (P < 0.0001) associated with a significant increment of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, and sphingomyelin (P < 0.05). Moreover, gas-chromatography analysis of total phospholipid-derived fatty acids shows a decrease in the percentage content of linoleic acid in tumor tissues, suggesting an altered metabolism of this fatty acid related to the enhanced epithelial proliferation. We conclude that neu transgenic mice provide a good model to clarify the involvement of phospholipids in neu-induced neoplastic transformation and to study in vivo the metabolic pathways related to the intracellular signaling.