The in vivo incorporation of mannose, retinol and mevalonic acid into phospholipids of hamster liver

Hamsters were injected intraperitoneally with [ 14 C]mannose, [ 14 C]retinol and [ 3 H]mevalonic acid. The livers were removed, extracted with chloroform-methanol and the lipids chromatographed on DEAE-cellulose and silicic acid. The hamster liver lipid contained a component which could be labelled with mannose and mevalonic acid. The properties of this compound were in accord with it being dolichyl-mannosyl-phosphate, a possible lipid intermediate required for the biosynthesis of some glycoproteins. [ 14 C]Retinol and [ 14 C] mannose were incorporated into another phospholipid which was labile to mild alkali conditions commonly used for the preparation of dolichyl-mannosyl-phosphate. The retinol labelled compound had similar properties to in vitro prepared mannosyl-retinyl-phosphate.