Plasma membrane lipids of human diploid fibroblasts from normal individuals and patients with cystic fibrosis.

The lipid composition of isolated plasma membranes of human skin fibroblasts is 
described for the first time. Plasma membranes from a number of 
strains of fibroblasts from patients with cystic fibrosis and matched normals 
were isolated by a recently described procedure and analysed for major 
phospholipid classes, cholesterol and fatty acids. No differences in the quantities 
of these compounds were detected between cells of the two different 
origins. The fetal calf serum used to supplement the growth medium 
contained relatively more palmitoleate and oleate but less stearate than the 
membranes. There were also no consistent differences between cystic fibrosis and 
normal membranes in terms of the fatty acid compositions of their 
individual phospholipid classes. Consistent with this lack of chemical change in 
the lipids of membranes of cystic fibrosis cells, the degree of 
fluorescence polarization of diphenylhexatriene, an index of fluidity, was also unchanged. 
