Effects of phospholipase A2 on the lysosomal ion permeability and osmotic sensitivity

Depression of Macrophages Modifies Serum Lipid Profile in Hyperlipidemia

Suppression of functional activity of macrophages by gadolinium chloride, suppressing the macrophage population and the endocytosis velocity, was studied in vivo. Injection of GdCl3 led to an increase in serum cholesterol concentration. Preliminary injection of GdCl3 to mice with lipidemia 24 h before poloxamer 407 reduced the concentrations of triglycerides and LDL during marked depression of macrophages (in 24 h). Macrophage repopulation (days 5, 7) was associated with development of a trend to an increase of triglyceride and LDL levels. lectron microscopic study of Kupffer cells after injection of poloxamer 407 and its combination with gadoliniun chloride detected the intralysosomal accumulation syndrome in these cells (formation of auto- and heterophagolysosomes). Activity of cathepsin B, characteristic of macrophages, reduced 24 h after injections of GdCl3 and poloxamer 407 alone and restored in response to their combination.

Early-stage atherosclerosis in poloxamer 407-induced hyperlipidemic mice: pathological features and changes in the lipid composition of serum lipoprotein fractions and subfractions

Background

The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of poloxamer 407 administration on atherogenic serum lipoprotein fractions and subfractions associated with cholesterol, triglycerides and phospholipids, as well as the onset of early atherosclerosis, in mice.

Methods

Mice were administered either sterile saline or poloxamer 407 (to induce a dose-controlled hyperlipidemia) for 1 month and then sacrificed at 1, 4 and 10 days after the last dose of poloxamer 407. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, the activity of a cysteine protease (cathepsin B) in cardiac and liver tissue, and histological/morphological examination of heart and liver specimens was performed for each group of mice at each time point. Lastly, small angle X-ray scattering was utilized to analyze the lipoprotein fractions and subfractions associated with cholesterol, triglycerides and phospholipids for both groups of mice at each time point. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way, analysis-of-variance with post hoc analysis to determine significantly different mean values, while correlation analysis employed the Spearman test.

Results

Poloxamer 407-treated mice revealed significant hyperlipidemia, moderately elevated blood pressure, general lipidosis in liver cells, increased cysteine protease activity in heart tissue, and contractile-type changes in cardiomyocytes. Similar to humans, the onset of atherosclerosis in poloxamer 407-treated mice was characterized by a steady increase in serum low-density, intermediate-density and very-low-density lipoprotein fractions, as well as very-low-density lipoprotein subfractions.

Conclusions

We would propose that the sustained elevation of serum atherogenic lipoprotein fractions and subfractions induced by the administration of poloxamer 407 to mice resulted in the morphological changes we observed in both heart and liver cells, which are suggested to precede atherosclerosis, since this is a well-established mouse model of atherosclerosis. Since most of the cellular, biochemical and physiological changes documented in the present study using poloxamer 407-treated mice are related to the symptoms of early atherosclerosis in humans, it is suggested that the poloxamer 407-induced mouse model of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis might prove beneficial as an experimental animal model with which to evaluate the pathological features observed in early-stage atherosclerosis.

Protein kinase C-δ isoform mediates lysosome labilization in DNA damage-induced apoptosis

A lysosomal pathway, characterized by the partial rupture or labilization of lysosomal membranes (LLM) and cathepsin release into the cytosol, is evoked during the early events of 20-S-camptothecin lactone (CPT)-induced apoptosis in human cancer cells, including human histiocytic lymphoma U-937 cells. These lysosomal events begin rapidly and simultaneously with mitochondrial permeabilization and caspase activation within 3 h after drug treatment. Recently, in a comparative proteomics analysis performed on highly-enriched lysosomal extracts, we identified proteins whose translocation to lysosomes correlated with LLM induction after CPT treatment, including protein kinase C-δ (PKC-δ). In this study, we show that the PKC-δ translocation to lysosomes is required for LLM, as silencing its expression with RNA interference or suppressing its activity with the inhibitor, rottlerin, prevents CPT-induced LLM. PKC-δ translocation to lysosomes is associated with lysosomal acidic sphingomyelinase (ASM) phosphorylation and activation, which in turn leads to an increase in ceramide (CER) content in lysosomes. The accumulation of endogenous CER in lysosomes is a critical event for CPT-induced LLM as suppressing PKC-δ or ASM activity reduces both the CPT-mediated CER generation in lysosomes and CPT-induced LLM. These findings reveal a novel mechanism by which PKC-δ mediates ASM phosphorylation/activation and CER accumulation in lysosomes in CPT-induced LLM, rapidly activating the lysosomal pathway of apoptosis after CPT treatment.

Regulation of apoptosis-associated lysosomal membrane permeabilization

Lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) occurs in response to a large variety of cell death stimuli causing release of cathepsins from the lysosomal lumen into the cytosol where they participate in apoptosis signaling. In some settings, apoptosis induction is dependent on an early release of cathepsins, while under other circumstances LMP occurs late in the cell death process and contributes to amplification of the death signal. The mechanism underlying LMP is still incompletely understood; however, a growing body of evidence suggests that LMP may be governed by several distinct mechanisms that are likely engaged in a death stimulus- and cell-type-dependent fashion. In this review, factors contributing to permeabilization of the lysosomal membrane including reactive oxygen species, lysosomal membrane lipid composition, proteases, p53, and Bcl-2 family proteins, are described. Potential mechanisms to safeguard lysosomal integrity and confer resistance to lysosome-dependent cell death are also discussed.

Loss of membrane cholesterol influences lysosomal permeability to potassium ions and protons

Cholesterol is an essential component of lysosomal membranes. In this study, we investigated the effects of membrane cholesterol on the permeability of rat liver lysosomes to K+ and H+, and the organelle stability. Through the measurements of lysosomal beta-hexosaminidase free activity, membrane potential, membrane fluidity, intra-lysosomal pH, and lysosomal proton leakage, we established that methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MbetaCD)-produced loss of membrane cholesterol could increase the lysosomal permeability to both potassium ions and protons, and fluidize the lysosomal membranes. As a result, potassium ions entered the lysosomes through K+/H+ exchange, which produced osmotic imbalance across the membranes and osmotically destabilized the lysosomes. In addition, treatment of the lysosomes with MbetaCD caused leakage of the lysosomal protons and raised the intra-lysosomal pH. The results indicate that membrane cholesterol plays important roles in the maintenance of the lysosomal limited permeability to K+ and H+. Loss of this membrane sterol is critical for the organelle acidification and stability.