Carnitine acyltransferases and associated transport processes in the endoplasmic reticulum. Missing links in the VLDL story?

Membrane transport of fatty acylcarnitine and free L-carnitine by rat liver microsomes

Recent studies have suggested that parts of the hepatic activities of diacylglycerol acyltransferase and acyl cholesterol acyltransferase are expressed in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). However the ER membrane is impermeable to the long-chain fatty acyl-CoA substrates of these enzymes. Liver microsomal vesicles that were shown to be at least 95% impermeable to palmitoyl-CoA were used to demonstrate the membrane transport of palmitoylcarnitine and free L-carnitine - processes that are necessary for an indirect route of provision of ER luminal fatty acyl-CoA through a luminal carnitine acyltransferase (CAT). Experimental conditions and precautions were established to permit measurement of the transport of [14C]palmitoylcarnitine into microsomes through the use of the luminal CAT and acyl-CoA:ethanol acyltransferase as a reporter system to detect formation of luminal [14C]palmitoyl-CoA. Rapid, unidirectional transport of free L-[3H]carnitine by microsomes was measured directly. This process, mediated either by a channel or a carrier, was inhibited by mersalyl but not by N-ethylmaleimide or sulfobetaine - properties that differentiate it from the mitochondrial inner membrane carnitine/acylcarnitine exchange carrier. These findings are relevant to the understanding of processes for the reassembly of triacylglycerols that lipidate very low density lipoprotein particles as part of a hepatic triacylglycerol lipolysis/re-esterification cycle.

Inhibition of carnitine palmitoyltransferase in the rat small intestine reduces export of triacylglycerol into the lymph

Following digestion of dietary triacylglycerol (TAG), intestinal epithelial cells absorb fatty acids and monoacylglycerols that are resynthesized into TAG by enzymes located on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). A study in rat liver (Abo-Hashema, K. A., M. H. Cake, G. W. Power, and D. J. Clarke. 1999. Evidence for TAG synthesis in the lumen of microsomes via a lipolysis-esterification pathway involving carnitine acyltransferases. J. Biol. Chem. 274: 35577-35582) showed that there is a carnitine-dependent ER lumenal synthesis of TAG. We wanted to test the hypothesis that a similar pathway was present in rat intestine by utilizing etomoxir, a specific inhibitor of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT). Intraduodenal infusion of etomoxir inhibited CPT activity in the ER by 69%. Etomoxir did not affect either the uptake of intraduodenally infused [3H]glyceryltrioleate by the intestinal mucosa or the production of mucosal [3H]TAG, excluding the possibility that etomoxir interfered with TAG absorption or synthesis. Etomoxir did not inhibit protein synthesis, glucose, cholesterol or palmitate absorption or metabolism, or ATP concentrations. Etomoxir substantially (74%) diminished lymph TAG output from intralumenally infused glyceryltrioleate. In conclusion, these data strongly support the hypothesis that an ER CPT system exists and is necessary for processing dietary TAG into chylomicrons. The significant reduction in lymphatic output of chylomicron TAG on etomoxir treatment suggests that the major source of chylomicron TAG is a diacylglyceroltransferase on the lumenal surface of the ER.

The liver isoform of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 is not targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum

Liver microsomal fractions contain a malonyl-CoA-inhibitable carnitine acyltransferase (CAT) activity. It has been proposed [Fraser, Corstorphine, Price and Zammit (1999) FEBS Lett. 446, 69-74] that this microsomal CAT activity is due to the liver form of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (L-CPT1) being targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane as well as to mitochondria, possibly by an N-terminal signal sequence [Cohen, Guillerault, Girard and Prip-Buus (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 5403-5411]. COS-1 cells were transiently transfected to express a fusion protein in which enhanced green fluorescent protein was fused to the C-terminus of L-CPT1. Confocal microscopy showed that this fusion protein was localized to mitochondria, and possibly to peroxisomes, but not to the ER. cDNAs corresponding to truncated (amino acids 1-328) or full-length L-CPT1 were transcribed and translated in the presence of canine pancreatic microsomes. However, there was no evidence of authentic insertion of CPT1 into the ER membrane. Rat liver microsomal fractions purified by sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation contained an 88 kDa protein (p88) which was recognized by an anti-L-CPT1 antibody and by 2,4-dinitrophenol-etomoxiryl-CoA, a covalent inhibitor of L-CPT1. Abundance of p88 and malonyl-CoA-inhibitable CAT activity were increased approx. 3-fold by starvation for 24 h. Deoxycholate solubilized p88 and malonyl-CoA-inhibitable CAT activity from microsomes to approximately the same extent. The microsomal fraction contained porin, which, relative to total protein, was as abundant as in crude mitochondrial outer membranes fractions. It is concluded that L-CPT1 is not targeted to the ER membrane and that malonyl-CoA CAT in microsomal fractions is L-CPT1 that is derived from mitochondria, possibly from membrane contact sites.

Differential effects of fenofibrate or simvastatin treatment of rats on hepatic microsomal overt and latent diacylglycerol acyltransferase activities

Hepatic triacylglycerol secretion is elevated in insulin-resistant states. Microsomal diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final reaction in the synthesis of triacylglycerol (TAG). We have previously described two DGAT activities in rat liver microsomes, one overt (cytosol-facing) and one latent (endoplasmic reticulum lumen-facing) (Owen MR, Corstorphine CG, Zammit VA: Overt and latent activities of diacylglycerol acytransferase in rat liver microsomes: possible roles in very-low-density lipoprotein triacylglycerol secretion. Biochem J 323:17-21, 1977). It was suggested that they are involved in the synthesis of TAG for the cytosolic droplet and VLDL lipidation, respectively. In the present study, we measured the overt and latent DGAT activities in rats fed diets containing one of two hypolipidemic drugs: fenofibrate (a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha [PPARalpha] agonist) and simvastatin (a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl [HMG]-CoA reductase inhibitor). We found that the activities of the two DGATs could be varied independently by these treatments. Fenofibrate raised overt DGAT activity but lowered that of latent DGAT. In contrast, simvastatin markedly lowered overt DGAT activity without affecting that of latent DGAT. The increase in overt DGAT activity induced by fenofibrate could not be mimicked by feeding a diet enriched in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which lowered overt DGAT activity but did not affect latent DGAT, suggesting that n-3 PUFA act through a mechanism independent of PPARalpha activation. The fibrate-induced increase in overt DGAT activity and the inhibition of latent DGAT may provide a mechanism through which acyl moieties are retained within the liver for oxidation through the pathways concomitantly upregulated by PPARalpha activation.

Dietary l-carnitine stimulates carnitine acyltransferases in the liver of aged rats

Aging affects oxidative metabolism in liver and other tissues. Carnitine acyltransferases are key enzymes of this process in mitochondria. As previously shown, the rate of transcription and activity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase CPT1 are also related to carnitine levels. In this study we compared the effect of dietary l-carnitine (100 mg l-carnitine/kg body weight/day over 3 months) on liver enzymes of aged rats (months 21-24) to adult animals (months 6-9) and age-related controls for both groups. The transcription rate of CPT1, CPT2, and carnitine acetyltransferase (CRAT) was determined by quantitative reverse transcription real-time PCR (RTQPCR) and compared to the activity of the CPT1A enzyme. The results showed that the transcription rates of CPT1, CPT2, and CRAT were similar in aged and adult control animals. Carnitine-fed old rats had a significant (p<0.05) 8-12-fold higher mean transcription rate of CPT1 and CRAT compared to aged controls, adult carnitine-fed animals, and adult controls, whereas the transcription rate of CPT2 was stimulated 2-3-fold in carnitine-fed animals of both age groups. With regard to the enzymatic activity of CPT1 there was a 1.5-fold increase in the old carnitine group compared to all other groups. RNA in situ hybridization also indicated an enhanced expression of CPT1A in hepatocytes from l-carnitine-supplemented animals. These results suggest that l-carnitine stimulates transcription of CPT1, CPT2, and CRAT as well as the enzyme activity of CPT1 in the livers of aged rats.