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1. When enzyme secretion was stimulated by carbamylcholine or acetylcholine (with eserine) in slices of pigeon pancreas, the incorporation of P32 into the phospholipide fraction of the stimulated slices was, after 2 hours, 4.8 to 8.7 (average, 7.0) times greater than the incorporation of P32 into the phospholipides of control slices. Neither respiration nor the incorporation of P32 into acid-soluble phosphate esters was increased. 2. Pilocarpine, which on a weight for weight basis was much less effective than carbamylcholine or acetylcholine in stimulating enzyme secretion in pancreas slices, was also much less effective in stimulating the uptake of P32 into phospholipides. 3. The stimulatory effects of carbamylcholine on both enzyme secretion and the incorporation of P32 into phospholipides were abolished by atropine. 4. The specific activity of the phospholipides from slices incubated anaerobically was less than 5 per cent of that observed aerobically. Anaerobically, carbamylcholine did not stimulate the incorporation of P32 into phospholipides to any significant extent. The specific activity of the acid-soluble phosphate esters after anaerobic incubation was 34 per cent of that found aerobically. 5. Cholinergic drugs had little or no effect on the incorporation of P32 into the phospholipides of the following tissue slices: pigeon and guinea pig liver, guinea pig heart ventricle, pigeon gizzard (smooth muscle), and guinea pig kidney cortex. A relatively slight stimulation of P32 uptake into phospholipides was observed in slices of pigeon brain (65 per cent) and guinea pig brain cortex (40 per cent). 6. Stimulation of amylase synthesis in slices of pigeon pancreas by the addition of a mixture of amino acids had no effect on the incorporation of P32 into phospholipides.

Incubation of slices of the salt gland of the albatross with acetylcholine, which is the physiological secretogogue for this tissue, led to a 13-fold increase in the rate of incorporation of P(32) into phosphatidic acid and a 3-fold increase in the incorporation of P(32) and inositol-2-H(3) into phosphoinositide. The incorporation of P(32) into phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl ethanolamine was increased relatively slightly or not at all. Respiration was doubled. The "phospholipid effect" occurred in the microsome fraction, which is known to contain fragments of the endoplasmic reticulum. The enzymes, diglyceride kinase and phosphatidic acid phosphatase, which catalyze the stimulated turnover of phosphatidic acid in brain cortex, were also found in highest concentration in the microsome fraction. The phosphatides which respond to acetylcholine are bound to protein in the membrane. On the basis of these findings it appears that phosphatidic acid and possibly phosphoinositide participate in sodium transport. A scheme, termed the phosphatidic acid cycle, is presented as a working hypothesis, in which the turnover of phosphatidic acid in the membrane, catalyzed by diglyceride kinase and phosphatidic acid phosphatase, functions as a sodium pump.

In goose salt gland slices incubated in bicarbonate-buffered medium which contained 170 mEq of Na(+)/liter, net total tissue Na(+), expressed as milliequivalents per kilogram, was, in the presence of either acetylcholine (plus eserine) or ouabain, significantly higher than that of the bathing fluid. Acetylcholine caused an increase in the tissue Na(+) content as compared with untreated slices; there was an approximately equivalent decrease in K(+) and a significant decrease in Cl(-). The calculated net intracellular concentrations of Na(+), expressed as milliequivalents per liter of intracellular water, in unstimulated, acetylcholine-stimulated, and ouabain-treated slices were 2.1, 3.1, and 2.7 times higher, respectively, than the concentration of Na(+) in the bathing fluid. The net intracellular concentration of Na(+), expressed as milliequivalents per liter of intracellular water, in slices incubated in the presence of acetylcholine was 531 mEq/liter; this is approximately the same as the concentration of Na(+) in the secreted fluid of the goose salt gland (515 mEq/liter). The results indicate that the main concentration gradient for Na(+) could be established across the basal membrane. The data do not indicate whether this involves active transport of Na(+) per se. A second stage which might involve Na-K ATPase activity at the luminal membrane is discussed. The sum of the total tissue Na(+) and K(+) was approximately 250 mEq/kg, whereas the Cl(-) content was only approximately 130 mEq/kg.

Acetylcholine, which stimulates NaCl secretion in the avian salt gland, causes the rapid formation of a fraction of phosphatidic acid, as measured by (32)P incorporation, which amounts maximally to about 0.18 micromoles per g of fresh tissue. This does not appear to involve synthesis of the diglyceride moiety of phosphatidic acid, as measured by glycerol-1-(14)C incorporation. It presumably involves formation of phosphatidic acid by the diglyceride kinase pathway from preformed diglyceride and ATP. The specific activity of the AT(32)P of the tissue is not increased in the presence of acetylcholine. At time intervals after addition of acetylcholine during which a full response, measured as increased O(2) uptake, may be observed, phosphatidic acid appears to be the only phosphatide which shows any increase either in total (32)P radioactivity or in net specific acitvity. This responsive fraction of phosphatidic acid undergoes continuous turnover of its phosphate moiety. There is no evidence that this turnover is due to the phosphatidic acid acting as a pool of intermediate for the synthesis of other phospholipids or glycerides. The responsive fraction amounts to not more than 20% of the total phosphatidic acid of the tissue; it does not mix with the other (non-responsive) phosphatidic acid of the tissue. The observations suggest that this phosphatidic acid plays some role in the over-all secretory process.

The effect of acetylcholine on the incorporation of P(32) into the individual phosphatides in slices of various structures of the nervous system has been studied. There was a marked stimulation of P(32) incorporation into phosphoinositide and phosphatidic acid, but not into phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl ethanolamine, in the cat stellate and celiac ganglia in vitro. Acetylcholine stimulated P(32) incorporation into certain phosphatides, primarily phosphoinositide and phosphatidic acid, in several structures of the cat and guinea pig brain; there was little or no effect of acetylcholine on phosphatide turnover in the inferior corpora quadrigsemina and cerebellar cortex. The suggestion is made that the phospholipid effect can best be explained as being concerned with the active transport of sodium ions out of the cell across the postsynaptic membrane of cholinergic neurons in response to acetylcholine.