Acyl-chain specificity and properties of cholesterol esterases from normal and Wolman lymphoid cell lines

Direct observation of lipoprotein cholesterol ester degradation in lysosomes

We have investigated whether pyrene-labelled cholesterol esters (PyrnCEs) (n indicates the number of aliphatic carbons in the pyrene-chain) can be used to observe the degradation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-derived cholesterol esters (CEs) in the lysosomes of living cells. To select the optimal substrates, hydrolysis of the PyrnCE species by lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) in detergent/phospholipid micelles was compared. The rate of hydrolysis varied markedly depending on the length of the pyrenyl chain. Pyr10CE was clearly the best substrate, while Pyr4CE was practically unhydrolysed. Pyr10CE and [3H]cholesteryl linoleate, the major CE species in LDL, were hydrolysed equally by LAL when incorporated together into reconstituted LDL (rLDL) particles, thus indicating that Pyr10CE is a reliable reporter of the lysosomal degradation of native CEs. When rLDL particles containing Pyr4CE or Pyr10CE were incubated with fibroblasts, the accumulation of bright intracellular vesicular fluorescence was observed with the former fluorescent derivative, but not with the latter. However, when the cells were treated with chloroquine, an inhibitor of lysosomal hydrolysis, or when cells with defective LAL were employed, Pyr10CE also accumulated in vesicular structures. HPLC analysis of cellular lipid extracts fully supported these imaging results. It is concluded that PyrnCEs can be used to observe degradation of CEs directly in living cells. This should be particularly useful when exploring the mechanisms responsible for the accumulation of lipoprotein-derived CEs in complex systems such as the arterial intima.

Use of pyrenemethyl laurate for fluorescence-based determination of lipase activity in intact living lymphoblastoid cells and for the diagnosis of acid lipase deficiency

Pyrenemethyl laurate (PMLes), a fluorogenic substrate for determining in vitro lipase activity [Nègre, Salvayre, Dagan and Gatt (1989) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1006, 84-88], has been administered to cultured lymphoblastoid cells from normal subjects and from a patient affected with Wolman disease, which is characterized by a deficiency of lysosomal acid lipase. The intracellular degradation of PMLes was dependent on the mode of administration of the substrate into the cells, and occurred by two separate pathways involving lysosomal and extra-lysosomal hydrolases. PMLes incorporated into LDL was taken up by normal lymphoblastoid cells through the apolipoprotein-B/E-receptor-mediated pathway and degraded in the lysosomal compartment, as suggested by the degradation block in Wolman cells. In contrast, when PMLes dissolved in 2% dimethyl sulphoxide was added directly to the culture medium, its hydrolysis was similar in lymphoblastoid cells from controls and from patients affected with Wolman disease, neutral lipid storage disease or familial hypercholesterolaemia. This suggested that the administered PMLes was degraded by a non-lysosomal enzyme which is not deficient in Wolman cells. This enzyme also differs from the neutral lipase system which is deficient in lymphoblastoid cells from patients with neutral lipid storage disease. When pyrenemethanol was administered directly to the cell culture, it was only poorly acylated and was rapidly released into the culture medium. These results and the fluorescence properties of PMLes ('monomeric' emission in a hydrophobic environment and 'excimeric' emission in a hydrophilic environment) and pyrenemethanol ('monomeric' emission in a hydrophilic environment) allowed us to design a 'direct reading' procedure by monitoring (without any lipid extraction) the fluorescence of intact living cells and that of the culture medium during pulse-chase experiments. This method allowed the direct evaluation of the time course of in situ degradation of PMLes. In pulse-chase experiments with LDL-PMLes, the fluorescence of normal cells decreased relatively rapidly with time whereas the fluorescence of the culture medium increased concomitantly. With Wolman cells, the cellular fluorescence decreased only very slightly, whereas that of the culture medium remained at the basal level; this demonstrates the catabolic block in intact living cells from patients with Wolman disease. In vitro degradation of PMLes indicated the existence of two PMLes-degrading enzymes in lymphoblastoid cell homogenates: one is the acid lipase which is involved in PMLes degradation in the lysosomal compartment (and is deficient in Wolman cells), while the second is a cytoplasmic enzyme (not deficient in Wolman cells).

Hydrolysis of fluorescent pyrene-acyl esters by human pancreatic carboxylic ester hydrolase and bile salt-stimulated lipase

Fluorescent esters containing pyrenedecanoic acid (P10) or pyrenebutanoic (P4) acid (P4cholesterol, P10cholesterol, P4- and P10-containing triacylglycerols) were synthesized and used as substrates for human pancreatic carboxylic ester hydrolase and bile salt-stimulated lipase from human milk. Both enzymes were purified by immunoaffinity chromatography. All fluorescent pyrene derivatives were hydrolyzed by pancreatic carboxylic ester hydrolase and bile salt-stimulated lipase, but at different rates. The hydrolytic rates of the "short" acyl esters (P4-containing esters) were higher than those of the "long" ones (P10-containing esters). Conditions were optimized for sensitivity of the assay using fluorescent cholesteryl esters. The pH optimum was 7.5-8.0. Sodium cholate exhibited a stronger activating effect than taurocholate or taurodeoxycholate (maximal activation was achieved with 5 mmol/L cholate and with a molar ratio cholesteryl ester/cholate around 1:10). Both pancreatic carboxylic ester hydrolase and bile salt-stimulated lipase from milk were strongly inhibited by the other amphiphiles tested, namely phosphatidylcholine and Triton X-100, and were inactivated by low concentrations (10 mumol/L) of the serine-reactive diethyl-paranitrophenyl phosphate (E600). Both enzymes were strongly inhibited by relatively low concentrations of plasma low density lipoproteins. These studies indicate that the fluorescent esters containing pyrene fatty acids can be used as substrates for assaying and investigating the properties of pancreatic carboxylic ester hydrolase as well as bile salt-stimulated lipase from milk.

Cholesterol esters selectively taken up from high-density lipoproteins are hydrolyzed extralysosomally

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol esters (CE) are taken up by many cells without parallel uptake of HDL apoproteins. This selective uptake is mediated by reversible incorporation of HDL CE into a plasma membrane pool, from which the CE are internalized. We now show that selectively taken up CE are directed to an extralysosomal destination where they are hydrolyzed and available to the steroidogenic pathway. Cultured human fibroblasts take up HDL CE predominantly by selective uptake. Wolman's disease fibroblasts, which are deficient in lysosomal cholesterol esterase, effectively hydrolyzed CE from HDL, but not CE taken up in low density lipoproteins (LDL); normal fibroblasts hydrolyzed both effectively. Analogously, the lysosomotropic agent chloroquine effectively blocked hydrolysis of LDL CE but not HDL CE. A similar effect of chloroquine was seen in primary cultures of rat adrenal cells, which are very active in selective uptake. More than 50% of HDL CE taken up by adrenal cells appeared in the medium as corticosterone. To examine the subcellular destination of selectively taken up CE, non-hydrolyzable tracers of HDL and LDL CE were simultaneously injected into rats. On fractionation of adrenal glands 24 h after injection, 83% of the HDL CE tracer and 48% of the LDL CE tracer were recovered in cytoplasmic lipid droplets; that LDL tracer in the lipid droplets was accounted for by selective uptake of CE from LDL. Thus, selectively taken up cholesterol esters are processed by a mechanism distinct from the classical endosomal/lysosomal pathway, and are delivered to a cytoplasmic compartment.

Independence of triacylglycerol-containing compartments in cultured fibroblasts from Wolman disease and multisystemic lipid storage myopathy

The functional relationship between the two subcellular compartments involved in catabolism of triglycerides, i.e. lysosomes and lipid-containing cytoplasmic vacuoles, has been investigated using cultured fibroblasts from patients affected with two different genetic lipid (triacylglycerol) storage disorders: Wolman disease and multisystemic lipid storage myopathy. As shown by metabolic studies in intact cultured cells, lysosomal degradation of exogenous labelled triacylglycerols (incorporated into lipoproteins and internalized via the apo B/E receptor pathway) was blocked in Wolman cells, whereas catabolism of endogenously biosynthesized triacylglycerols was in the normal range. In contrast, in fibroblasts from multisystemic lipid storage myopathy, the degradation of endogenous triacylglycerols was blocked, whereas that of exogenous triacylglycerols (i.e. from lipoproteins) was normal. This comparative study demonstrates that the lysosomal and cytoplasmic compartments are functionally independent. Enzymatic studies allows one to discriminate clearly between 3 lipases and 2 carboxylesterases the role of which is discussed.

High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of acylated lipids containing pyrene fatty acids

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the separation and quantification of acylated lipids containing pyrene fatty acids is described. The method is adapted from a procedure originally developed for the analysis of tissue lipids (Christie, W. W. (1985) J. Lipid Res. 26, 507-512). Pyrenyl lipid analogs ranging in polarity from cholesteryl ester to lysophosphatidylcholine are completely resolved on a silica column in 50 min by gradient elution with a ternary solvent system. Furthermore, pyrene-labeled triglycerides are resolved according to the number of pyrene fatty acid residues incorporated. Pyrenyl lipids are detected at levels of 10(-13) mol by high-sensitivity fluorescence detection. Accurate quantification of pyrenyl lipids is obtained by correcting peak areas for mobile-phase quenching effects. The close correspondence between chromatograms obtained for the separation of labeled lipids extracted from Hep-G2 cells incubated with either 12-(1-pyrenyl)dodecanoic acid (fluorescence detection) or [1-14C]oleic acid (radioactivity detection) indicates that this HPLC method is equally suitable for analysis of native lipids.

Hydrolysis of fluorescent pyrenetriacylglycerols by lipases from human stomach and gastric juice

Fluorescent triacylglycerols containing pyrenedecanoic (P10) and pyrenebutanoic (P4) acids were synthesized and their hydrolysis by lipases from human gastric juice and stomach homogenate was investigated. The existence in stomach homogenate of four different lipolytic enzymes hydrolyzing fluorescent triacylglycerols is suggested by the comparison of various enzymatic properties: acyl chain length specificity, heat inactivation and effect of detergents (Triton X-100 and taurocholate), serum albumin, diethyl-para-nitrophenyl phosphate (E600) and other inhibitors. (1) The acid pH4-lipase hydrolyzes P10-triacylglycerols but not P4-triacylglycerol and exhibited the characteristic properties of the lysosomal lipase: the maximal activating effect of detergents occurs at relatively high concentrations (the substrate/detergent optimal molar ratios were 1:5 and 1:25 for triacylglycerols/taurocholate and triacylglycerols/Triton X-100, respectively); its activity was strongly inhibited by para-chloromercuribenzoate (2.5 mmol/l), but was not significantly affected by serum albumin and E600 (10(-2) mmol/l). (2) The neutral pH7-lipase hydrolyzes P10-triacylglycerols but not P4-triacylglycerol. It is resistant to E600 and heat-stable, similarly to the acid pH4-lipase, but it is well discriminated from the acid enzyme by its substrate/detergent optimal molar ratios (1:2 and 1:3 for triacylglycerols/taurocholate and triacylglycerols/Triton X-100, respectively), whereas higher detergent concentrations, optimal for the acid lipase, are strongly inhibitory for the neutral enzyme. (3) The pH5-lipase present in gastric juice as well as in stomach homogenate exhibited properties obviously discriminating it from the other lipolytic enzymes from stomach homogenate: broad substrate specificity for P10- as well as P4-triacylglycerols, activation by low concentrations of amphiphiles (with optimal ratios triacylglycerols/taurocholate, triacylglycerols/taurocholate and triacylglycerols/phosphatidylcholine around 1:1, 1:3 and 1:0.1, respectively), heat-lability, strong activation by serum albumin and inhibition by E600 (10(-2) mmol/l). This pH5-lipase is the sole lipolytic enzyme present in gastric juice and is probably identical with the well-known 'gastric' lipase. (4) A pH7.5-enzyme is characterized by its specificity for P4-triacylglycerols, its heat-lability at 50 degrees C and its strong inhibition by E600 (10(-2) mmol/l).

Cholesterol esterases from normal and FEC hamster liver

1. Synthetic cholesteryl esters with various acyl chain length (C2-C18) are hydrolysed by several enzymes in hamster liver. 2. The comparison of effect of inhibitors, divalent cations, detergents, pH and substrate specificity allows discrimination between four enzymes hydrolyzing cholesteryl esters, which are characterized by their enzymatic properties, two cholesterol esterases (resistant to E600) hydrolyzed medium- and long-chain cholesteryl esters, whereas short-chain cholesteryl esters were hydrolyzed by two different carboxylesterases (dramatically inhibited by E600). 3. The acid cholesterol esterase (identical to the lysosomal lipase) exhibited a pH optimum at pH 5.0 and is activated by 1 mM taurocholate. 4. The alkaline cholesterol esterase (pH optimum 7.5) is not very sensitive to the tested effectors. 5. Both acid and alkaline carboxylesterases (pH optima 5.5 and 7.5), were characterized by their strict dependence on divalent cations (Mn2+ or Mg2+). 6. The acid carboxylesterase was inhibited by increasing concentrations of Triton X-100, whereas the alkaline carboxylesterase was dramatically activated by 2 g/l Triton X-100. 7. No significant difference was observed in activities of cholesterol esterases or carboxylesterases between normal and FEC hamster livers.