Cholesterol and sphingomyelin syntheses are regulated independently in cultured human intestinal cells, CaCo-2: role of membrane cholesterol and sphingomyelin content

ORP5/8 and MIB/MICOS link ER-mitochondria and intra-mitochondrial contacts for non-vesicular transport of phosphatidylserine

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles essential for cell survival whose structural and functional integrity rely on selective and regulated transport of lipids from/to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and across the mitochondrial intermembrane space. As they are not connected by vesicular transport, the exchange of lipids between ER and mitochondria occurs at membrane contact sites. However, the mechanisms and proteins involved in these processes are only beginning to emerge. Here, we show that the main physiological localization of the lipid transfer proteins ORP5 and ORP8 is at mitochondria-associated ER membrane (MAM) subdomains, physically linked to the mitochondrial intermembrane space bridging (MIB)/mitochondrial contact sites and cristae junction organizing system (MICOS) complexes that bridge the two mitochondrial membranes. We also show that ORP5/ORP8 mediate non-vesicular transport of phosphatidylserine (PS) lipids from the ER to mitochondria by cooperating with the MIB/MICOS complexes. Overall our study reveals a physical and functional link between ER-mitochondria contacts involved in lipid transfer and intra-mitochondrial membrane contacts maintained by the MIB/MICOS complexes.

Analgesic Effects of Lipid Raft Disruption by Sphingomyelinase and Myriocin via Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 and Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 Ion Channel Modulation

Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) Vanilloid 1 and Ankyrin 1 (TRPV1, TRPA1) cation channels are expressed in nociceptive primary sensory neurons, and integratively regulate nociceptor and inflammatory functions. Lipid rafts are liquid-ordered plasma membrane microdomains rich in cholesterol, sphingomyelin and gangliosides. We earlier showed that lipid raft disruption inhibits TRPV1 and TRPA1 functions in primary sensory neuronal cultures. Here we investigated the effects of sphingomyelinase (SMase) cleaving membrane sphingomyelin and myriocin (Myr) prohibiting sphingolipid synthesis in mouse pain models of different mechanisms. SMase (50 mU) or Myr (1 mM) pretreatment significantly decreased TRPV1 activation (capsaicin)-induced nocifensive eye-wiping movements by 37 and 41%, respectively. Intraplantar pretreatment by both compounds significantly diminished TRPV1 stimulation (resiniferatoxin)-evoked thermal allodynia developing mainly by peripheral sensitization. SMase (50 mU) also decreased mechanical hyperalgesia related to both peripheral and central sensitizations. SMase (50 mU) significantly reduced TRPA1 activation (formalin)-induced acute nocifensive behaviors by 64% in the second, neurogenic inflammatory phase. Myr, but not SMase altered the plasma membrane polarity related to the cholesterol composition as shown by fluorescence spectroscopy. These are the first in vivo results showing that sphingolipids play a key role in lipid raft integrity around nociceptive TRP channels, their activation and pain sensation. It is concluded that local SMase administration might open novel perspective for analgesic therapy.

Lysophosphatidylcholine induces expression of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis in THP-1 derived macrophages

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), a major component of oxidized low-density lipoprotein, is associated with atherosclerosis, obesity, stroke, and cancer. However, the direction and mechanism of this relationship remains unclear. In this study, we conducted RNA profiling in THP-1 derived macrophages treated with LPC and uncovered a relationship between LPC and the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway. Principal component analysis (PCA) of RNA profiling showed that untreated THP-1 cells and those treated with 10, 20, or 40 µM LPC were distinctly distributed. Functional annotation revealed that LPC affected the expression of genes involved in cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, TNF signaling, and MAPK signaling. Interestingly, LPC also altered the expression of 11 genes involved in cholesterol synthesis such as those in terpenoid backbone biosynthesis and steroid biosynthesis pathways. This increased gene expression occurred in a dose-dependent manner in response to LPC treatment. Especially, LPC with saturated acyl groups enhanced the expression of these genes compared to LPC with unsaturated acyl groups, and similar results were shown in response to saturated and unsaturated free fatty acids. Our findings demonstrate that LPCs with saturated acyl groups induce the expression of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis and may have implications for cholesterol related diseases.

Cellular Tight Junctions Prevent Effective Campylobacter jejuni Invasion and Inflammatory Barrier Disruption Promoting Bacterial Invasion from Lateral Membrane in Polarized Intestinal Epithelial Cells

Campylobacter jejuni invasion is closely related to C. jejuni pathogenicity. The intestinal epithelium contains polarized epithelial cells that form tight junctions (TJs) to provide a physical barrier against bacterial invasion. Previous studies indicated that C. jejuni invasion of non-polarized cells involves several cellular features, including lipid rafts. However, the dynamics of C. jejuni invasion of polarized epithelial cells are not fully understood. Here we investigated the interaction between C. jejuni invasion and TJ formation to characterize the mechanism of C. jejuni invasion in polarized epithelial cells. In contrast to non-polarized epithelial cells, C. jejuni invasion was not affected by depletion of lipid rafts in polarized epithelial cells. However, depletion of lipid rafts significantly decreased C. jejuni invasion in TJ disrupted cells or basolateral infection and repair of cellular TJs suppressed lipid raft-mediated C. jejuni invasion in polarized epithelial cells. In addition, pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNF-α treatment that induce TJ disruption promote C. jejuni invasion and lipid rafts depletion significantly reduced C. jejuni invasion in TNF-α treated cells. These data demonstrated that TJs prevent C. jejuni invasion from the lateral side of epithelial cells, where they play a main part in bacterial invasion and suggest that C. jejuni invasion could be increased in inflammatory condition. Therefore, maintenance of TJs integrity should be considered important in the development of novel therapies for C. jejuni infection.

Lovastatin reversed the enhanced sphingomyelin caused by 27-hydroxycholesterol in cultured vascular endothelial cells

Statins have pleiotropic properties which are involved in inhibiting the thrombogenic response. In this study, the effects of lovastatin on two phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin, were studied in cultured endothelial cells in the presence of an oxysterol, 27-hydroxycholesterol. After the cells were cultured with 50 nM of lovastatin for 60 h, lovastatin was found to decrease the incorporation of [³H]choline into phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin, inhibited CTP: phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CT) activity without altering the activity of sphingomyelin synthase and neutral sphingomyelinase. And lovastatin was not found to have a direct inhibitive effect on activity of CT. Exogenous mevalonic acid or cholesterol reversed the reduction of cholesterol concentration that was caused by lovastatin, but had no significant effect on the diminished [³H]sphingomyelin by lovastatin. The increase of [³H]sphingomyelin by 27-hydroxycholesterol was not detected in the presence of lovastatin. These findings suggest that (1) lovastatin can reduce sphingomyelin content by means of inhibiting phosphatidylcholine synthesis; and (2) The decrease in sphingomyelin is not related to the diminished cholesterol concentration or mevalonate-derived intermediates. This inhibitive effect of lovastatin on sphingomyelin may benefit cellular calcification caused by sphingomyelin.

Mevalonate inhibits acid sphingomyelinase activity, increases sphingomyelin levels and inhibits cell proliferation of HepG2 and Caco-2 cells

BACKGROUND

Sphingomyelin (SM) and cholesterol are two types of lipid closely related biophysically. Treating the cells with exogenous sphingomyelinase (SMase) induces trafficking of cholesterol from membrane to intracellular pools and inhibition of cholesterol synthesis. In the present work, we address a question whether increased cholesterol synthesis affects hydrolysis of SM by endogenous SMases.

METHODS

Both HepG2 and Caco-2 cells were incubated with mevalonate. The SMase activity was determined and its mRNA examined by qPCR. The cellular levels of cholesterol, SM, and phosphatidylcholine (PC) were determined and cell proliferation rate assayed.

RESULTS

We found that mevalonate dose-dependently decreased acid but not neutral SMase activity in both HepG2 and Caco-2 cells with HepG2 cells being more sensitive to mevalonate. Kinetic examination in HepG2 cells revealed that acid SMase activity was increasing with cell proliferation, and such an increase was reversed by mevalonate treatment. Acid SMase mRNA was not significantly decreased and Western blot showed signs of proteolysis of acid SMase by mevalonate. After mevalonate treatment, the levels of cholesterol were significantly increased associated with increases in SM and PC. The cell growth was retarded by mevalonate and the effect was more obvious in HepG2 cells than in Caco-2 cells.

CONCLUSION

Mevalonate can trigger a mechanism to enhance SM levels by inhibition of acid SMase. The effect may ensure the coordinate changes of SM and cholesterol in the cells. Mevalonate also affects cell growth with mechanism required further characterization.

ORMDL orosomucoid-like proteins are degraded by free-cholesterol-loading-induced autophagy

Eukaryotic cells have evolved robust mechanisms to counter excess cholesterol including redistribution of lipids into different compartments and compensatory up-regulation of phospholipid biosynthesis. We demonstrate here that excess cellular cholesterol increased the activity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) enzyme serine palmitoyl-CoA transferase (SPT), the rate-limiting enzyme in sphingomyelin synthesis. This increased SPT activity was not due to altered levels of SPTLC1 or SPTLC2, the major subunits of SPT. Instead, cholesterol loading decreased the levels of ORMDL1, a negative regulator of SPT activity, due to its increased turnover. Several lines of evidence demonstrated that free-cholesterol-induced autophagy, which led to increased turnover of ORMDL1. Cholesterol loading induced ORMDL1 redistribution from the ER to cytoplasmic p62 positive autophagosomes. Coimmunoprecipitation analysis of cholesterol-loaded cells showed increased association between ORMDL1 and p62. The lysosomal inhibitor chloroquine or siRNA knockdown of Atg7 inhibited ORMDL1 degradation by cholesterol, whereas proteasome inhibitors showed no effect. ORMDL1 degradation was specific to free-cholesterol loading as autophagy induced by serum starvation or general ER stress did not lead to ORMDL1 degradation. ORMDL proteins are thus previously unidentified responders to excess cholesterol, exiting the ER to activate SPT and increase sphingomyelin biosynthesis, which may buffer excess cellular cholesterol.

Generating ceramide from sphingomyelin by alkaline sphingomyelinase in the gut enhances sphingomyelin-induced inhibition of cholesterol uptake in Caco-2 cells

Background Sphingomyelin (SM) is present in dietary products and cell plasma membranes. We previously showed that dietary SM inhibited cholesterol absorption in rats. In the intestinal tract, SM is mainly hydrolyzed by alkaline sphingomyelinase (alk-SMase) to ceramide.Aims We investigated the influence of SM and its hydrolytic products ceramide and sphingosine on cholesterol uptake in intestinal Caco-2 cells.Methods Micelles containing bile salt, monoolein, and (14)C-cholesterol were prepared with or without SM, ceramide,or sphingosine. The micelles were incubated with Caco-2 cells, and uptake of radioactive cholesterol was quantified.Results We found that confluent monolayer Caco-2 cells expressed NPC1L1, and the uptake of cholesterol in the cells was inhibited by ezetimibe, a specific inhibitor of NPC1L1. Incorporation of SM in the cholesterol micelles inhibited cholesterol uptake dose-dependently; 38% inhibition occurred at an equal mole ratio of SM and cholesterol.The inhibition was further enhanced to 45% by pretreating the cholesterol/SM micelles with recombinant alk-SMase, which hydrolyzed SM in the micelles by 85%, indicating ceramide has stronger inhibitory effects on cholesterol uptake. To confirm this, we further replaced SM in the micelles with ceramide and sphingosine, and found that at equal mole ratio to cholesterol, ceramide exhibited stronger inhibitory effect (50% vs 38%) on cholesterol uptake than SM, whereas sphingosine only had a weak effect at high concentrations.Conclusion Both SM and ceramide inhibit cholesterol uptake, the effect of ceramide being stronger than that of SM. Alk-SMase enhances SM-induced inhibition of cholesterol uptake by generating ceramide in the intestinal lumen.

Origins of intestinal ABCA1-mediated HDL-cholesterol

The origins of cholesterol utilized by intestinal ABCA1 were investigated in the human intestinal cell line Caco-2. Influx of apical membrane cholesterol increases ABCA1 mRNA and mass, resulting in enhanced efflux of HDL-cholesterol. Luminal (micellar) cholesterol and newly synthesized cholesterol are not transported directly to ABCA1 but reach the ABCA1 pool after incorporation into the apical membrane. Depleting the apical or the basolateral membrane of cholesterol by cyclodextrin attenuates the amount of cholesterol transported by ABCA1 without altering ABCA1 expression. Filipin added to the apical side but not the basal side attenuates ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux, suggesting that apical membrane "microdomains," or rafts, supply cholesterol for HDL. Preventing cholesterol esterification increases the amount of cholesterol available for HDL. Ezetimibe, a Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 protein inhibitor, does not alter ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux. U18666A and imipramine, agents that mimic cholesterol trafficking defects of Neimann-Pick type C disease, attenuate cholesterol efflux without altering ABCA1 expression; thus, intestinal NPC1 may facilitate cholesterol movement to ABCA1. ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux is independent of cholesterol synthesis. The results suggest that following incorporation into plasma membrane and rafts of the apical membrane, dietary/biliary and newly synthesized cholesterol contribute to the ABCA1 pool and HDL-cholesterol. NPC1 may have a role in this process.

Serine palmitoyltransferase, a key enzyme of sphingolipid metabolism

The first step in the biosynthesis of sphingolipids is the condensation of serine and palmitoyl CoA, a reaction catalyzed by serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) to produce 3-ketodihydrosphingosine (KDS). This review focuses on recent advances in the biochemistry and molecular biology of SPT. SPT belongs to a family of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent alpha-oxoamine synthases (POAS). Mammalian SPT is a heterodimer of 53-kDa LCB1 and 63-kDa LCB2 subunits, both of which are bound to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) most likely with the type I topology, whereas other members of the POAS family are soluble homodimer enzymes. LCB2 appears to be unstable unless it is associated with LCB1. Potent inhibitors of SPT structurally resemble an intermediate in a probable multistep reaction mechanism for SPT. Although SPT is a housekeeping enzyme, its activity is regulated transcriptionally and post-transcriptionally, and its up-regulation is suggested to play a role in apoptosis induced by certain types of stress. Specific missense mutations in the human LCB1 gene cause hereditary sensory neuropathy type I, an autosomal dominantly inherited disease, and these mutations confer dominant-negative effects on SPT activity.

Apolipoprotein-mediated cellular lipid release requires replenishment of sphingomyelin in a phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C-dependent manner

When sphingomyelin is digested by sphingomyelinase in the plasma membrane of rat astrocytes, productions of sphingomyelin, diacylglycerol, and phosphatidylcholine are stimulated. D609, an inhibitor of phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C, suppressed these effects. Similarly, when apolipoprotein A-I removed cellular cholesterol, phosphatidylcholine, and sphingomyelin to generate high density lipoprotein, cholesterol synthesis from acetate subsequently increased, and sphingomyelin synthesis from acetate and serine also increased. D609 inhibited these effects again. D609 also inhibited the cholesterol removal by apoA-I not only from the astrocytes but also from BALB/3T3 and RAW264 cells. D609 decreased cholesterol synthesis, although D609 did not directly inhibit hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase. ApoA-I-stimulated translocation of newly synthesized cholesterol to cytosol was also decreased by D609. A diacylglycerol analog increased the apoA-I-mediated cholesterol release, whereas ceramide did not influence it. We concluded that removal of cellular sphingomyelin by apolipoproteins is replenished by transfer of phosphorylcholine from phosphatidylcholine to ceramide, and this reaction may limit the removal of cholesterol by apoA-I. This reaction also produces diacylglycerol that potentially triggers subsequent cellular signal cascades and regulates intracellular cholesterol trafficking.

Sterol-dependent regulation of sphingolipid metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We had previously isolated the temperature-sensitive erg26-1 mutant and characterized the sterol defects in erg26-1 cells (Baudry, K., Swain, E., Rahier, A., Germann, M., Batta, A., Rondet, S., Mandala, S., Henry, K., Tint, G. S., Edlind, T., Kurtz, M., and Nickels, J. T., Jr. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 12702-12711). We have now determined the defects in sphingolipid metabolism in erg26-1 cells, examined their effects on cell growth, and initiated studies designed to elucidate how might changes in sterol levels coordinately regulate sphingolipid metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using [(3)H]inositol radiolabeling studies, we found that the biosynthetic rate and steady-state levels of specific hydroxylated forms of inositolphosphorylceramides were decreased in erg26-1 cells when compared with wild type cells. [(3)H]Dihydrosphingosine radiolabeling studies demonstrated that erg26-1 cells had decreased levels of the phytosphingosine-derived ceramides that are the direct precursors of the specific hydroxylated inositol phosphorylceramides found to be lower in these cells. Gene dosage experiments using the sphingolipid long chain sphingoid base (LCB) hydroxylase gene, SUR2, suggest that erg26-1 cells may accumulate LCB, thus placing one point of sterol regulation of sphingolipid synthesis possibly at the level of ceramide metabolism. The results from additional genetic studies using the sphingolipid hydroxylase and copper transporter genes, SCS7 and CCC2, respectively, suggest a second possible point of sterol regulation at the level of complex sphingolipid hydroxylation. In addition, [(3)H]inositol radiolabeling of sterol biosynthesis inhibitor-treated wild type cells and late sterol pathway mutants showed that additional blocks in sterol biosynthesis have profound effects on sphingolipid metabolism, particularly sphingolipid hydroxylation state. Finally, our genetic studies in erg26-1 cells using the LCB phosphate phosphatase gene, LBP1, suggest that increasing the levels of the LCB sphingoid base phosphate can remediate the temperature-sensitive phenotype of erg26-1 cells.

Interactions between metabolism and intracellular distribution of cholesterol and sphingomyelin

There is ample evidence from experimental models and human metabolic disorders indicating that cholesterol and sphingomyelin (SM) levels are coordinately regulated. Generally it has been observed that altering the cellular content of sphingomyelin or cholesterol results in corresponding changes in mass and/or synthesis of the other lipid. In the case of cholesterol synthesis and trafficking, SM regulates the capacity of membranes to absorb cholesterol and thereby controls sterol flux between the plasma membrane and regulatory pathways in the endoplasmic reticulum. This relationship exemplifies the importance of cholesterol/sphingolipid-rich domains in cholesterol homeostasis, as well as other aspects of cell signaling and transport. Evidence for regulation of sphingomyelin metabolism by cholesterol is less convincing and dependent on the model system under study. Sphingomyelin biosynthetic rates are not dramatically affected by alterations in cholesterol balance suggesting that sphingomyelin or its metabolites serve other indispensable functions in the cell. A notable exception is the robust and specific regulation of both SM and cholesterol synthesis by 25-hydroxycholesterol. This finding is reviewed in the context of the role of oxysterol binding protein and its putative role in cholesterol and SM trafficking between the plasma membrane and Golgi apparatus.

Sphingomyelin-cholesterol interactions in biological and model membranes

Cholesterol and sphingomyelin are both important plasma membrane constituents in cells. It is now becoming evident that these two lipid classes affect each other's metabolism in the cell to an extent that was not previously appreciated. It is the aim of this review to present recent data in the literature concerning both molecular and membrane properties of the two lipid classes, how they interact in membranes (both biological and model), and the consequences their mutual interaction have on different functional and metabolic processes in cells and lipoproteins.

Differential effects of sphingomyelin hydrolysis and cholesterol transport on oxysterol-binding protein phosphorylation and Golgi localization

The deposition of de novo synthesized and lipoprotein-derived cholesterol at the plasma membrane and transport to the endoplasmic reticulum is dependent on sphingomyelin (SM) content. Here we show that hydrolysis of plasma membrane SM in Chinese hamster ovary cells by exogenous bacterial sphingomyelinase resulted in enhanced cholesterol esterification at the endoplasmic reticulum and rapid dephosphorylation of the oxysterol-binding protein (OSBP), a cytosolic/Golgi receptor for oxysterols such as 25-hydroxycholesterol. After sphingomyelinase treatment, restoration of OSBP phosphorylation closely paralleled resynthesis of SM and down-regulation of cholesterol ester synthesis. SM hydrolysis activated an okadaic acid-sensitive phosphatase that was not stimulated in Chinese hamster ovary cells by short chain ceramides. Agents that specifically blocked sphingomyelinase-mediated delivery of cholesterol to acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (U18666A) or promoted cholesterol efflux to the medium (cyclodextrin) did not inhibit OSBP dephosphorylation. SM hydrolysis also promoted OSBP translocation from a vesicular compartment to the Golgi apparatus. Cyclodextrin and U18666A also caused OSBP translocation to the Golgi apparatus, suggesting that OSBP movement is coupled to changes in the cholesterol content of the plasma membrane or Golgi apparatus. These results identify OSBP as a potential target of SM turnover and cholesterol mobilization at the plasma membrane and/or Golgi apparatus.

Preferential decarboxylation of hydrophilic phosphatidylserine species in cultured cells. Implications on the mechanism of transport to mitochondria and cellular aminophospholipid species compositions

In baby hamster kidney and other cultured cells the majority of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) is synthesized from phosphatidylserine (PS) in a process which involves transport of PS from the endoplasmic reticulum to mitochondria and decarboxylation therein by PS decarboxylase. To study the mechanism of this transport process, we first determined the molecular species composition of PE and PS from baby hamster kidney and Chinese hamster ovary cells. Interestingly, the hydrophilic diacyl molecular species were found to be much more abundant in PE than in PS, suggesting that hydrophilic PS species may be more readily transported to mitochondria than the hydrophobic ones. To study this, we compared the rates of decarboxylation of different PS molecular species in these cells. The cells were pulse labeled with [3H]serine whereafter the distribution of the labels among PS and PE molecular species was determined by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography and liquid scintillation counting. The hydrophilic PE species contained relatively much more 3H label than those of PS, which indicates that they are more readily decarboxylated than the hydrophobic ones. Control experiments showed that differences in [3H]PS and -PE molecular species profiles are not due to (i) incorporation of 3H label to some PE species via alternative pathways, (ii) differences in degradation or remodeling among species, or (iii) selective decarboxylation of PS molecular species by the enzyme. Therefore, hydrophilic PS species are indeed decarboxylated faster than the hydrophobic ones. The rate of decarboxylation decreased systematically with hydrophobicity, strongly suggesting that formation of so called activated monomers, i.e. lipid molecules perpendicularly displaced from the membrane (Jones, J. D., and Thompson, T. E. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 1593-1600), is the rate-limiting step in the transport of PS from the endoplasmic reticulum to mitochondria. The formation of activated monomers and thus the rate of transfer is probably greatly enhanced by frequent collisions between the two membranes which tend to be closely associated. The present data also provides a feasible explanation why hydrophilic molecular species in these cells are much more abundant in PE as compared with PS, its immediate precursor.

Macrophage uptake of oxidized LDL inhibits lysosomal sphingomyelinase, thus causing the accumulation of unesterified cholesterol-sphingomyelin-rich particles in the lysosomes. A possible role for 7-Ketocholesterol

Macrophage uptake of oxidatively modified LDL (Ox-LDL), unlike the uptake of acetylated LDL (Ac-LDL), resulted in lysosomal accumulation of unesterified cholesterol (UC). As sphingomyelin (SM) binds UC with high affinity, we considered whether lysosomes also accumulate Ox-LDL-derived SM, and if such a phenomenon could be involved in the lysosomal trapping of Ox-LDL-derived UC. Incubation of J-774 A.1 macrophages with Ox-LDL increased the lysosomal accumulations of UC by 75% and SM by 63% compared with the effect of Ac-LDL. The addition of chlorpromazine, an inhibitor of lysosomal sphingomyelinase (SMase), to macrophages that were incubated with [3H]cholesteryl ester-labeled Ac-LDL also led to lysosomal accumulation of both SM and UC. 7-Ketocholesterol (7-KC), the major oxysterol in Ox-LDL, inhibited lysosomal SMase in a cell-free system. The addition of 7-KC to cells in the presence of [3H]choline- or [3H]cholesteryl ester-labeled Ac-LDL led to macrophage accumulation of SM or UC, respectively. Niemann-Pick type C disease (NP-C) is an inherited cholesterol-storage disease in which lysosomal SMase activity is attenuated after uptake of LDL. Incubation of monocyte-derived macrophages from two NP-C patients with Ac-LDL or Ox-LDL resulted in an accumulation of UC in the lysosomes, whereas normal monocyte-derived macrophages accumulate UC in their lysosomes after incubation with Ox-LDL but not Ac-LDL. These results suggest that inhibition of lysosomal SMase in NP-C cells or by 7-KC is required for lysosomal accumulation of UC. Analysis of the macrophage lysosomal extract (following cell incubation with Ox-LDL) by density-gradient ultracentrifugation and gel-filtration chromatography revealed the presence of a particle consisting of UC, SM, 7-KC, and apoB-100. We conclude that 7-KC in Ox-LDL can inhibit lysosomal SMase, thus leading to the accumulation of SM, which binds UC avidly and inhibits its further cellular processing out of the lysosome. As UC-SM particles of lysosomal origin exist in the atherosclerotic lesion, the formation of such particles may result from an impaired processing of Ox-LDL by arterial wall macrophages during early atherogenesis.

Sphingolipid biosynthesis de novo by rat hepatocytes in culture. Ceramide and sphingomyelin are associated with, but not required for, very low density lipoprotein secretion

Sphingolipids are constituents of liver and lipoproteins, but relatively little is known about their synthesis and secretion. Incubation of rat hepatocytes with [14C]- or [3H]serine labeled the long-chain base backbones of mainly ceramide and sphingomyelin. Most of the labeled sphingolipids were associated with the cells; however, 1-5% (the majority of which was ceramide) was released into the medium as part of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL). Since this is the first report that lipoproteins contain ceramide, lipoproteins were isolated from rat plasma, and the ceramide contents were (per mg of protein): 6.5 nmol for VLDL (d < 1.018), 0.6 nmol for low density lipoproteins (1.018 < d < 1.063), 0.2 nmol for high density lipoproteins (1.063 < d < 1.18), and 0.1 nmol for the albumin fraction; the lipoproteins also contained 0.1-0.4 nmol of free sphingosine/mg of protein. A number of factors affected the secretion of radiolabeled sphingolipids: 1) addition of palmitic acid, but not stearic or oleic acid, enhanced secretion due to an increase in long-chain base synthesis de novo. 2) Choline deficiency caused a 42% reduction in the secretion of radiolabeled sphingomyelin, but this was due to an effect on VLDL secretion rather than a decrease in sphingolipid synthesis. Removal of choline was examined because previous studies (Yao, Z. M., and Vance, D. E. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 2998-3004) have shown that choline deficiencies depress phosphatidylcholine synthesis and lipoprotein secretion. 3) Incubation of the cells with fumonisin B1, a mycotoxin inhibitor of sphinganine (sphingosine) N-acyltransferase, reduced overall sphingolipid synthesis and secretion by 90%, but had no effect on the secretion of apoB, phosphatidylcholine, or cholesterol. All together, these findings demonstrate that rat hepatocytes synthesize ceramide and sphingomyelin de novo and incorporate them into both cellular membranes and secreted VLDL, but normal sphingolipid synthesis is not required for lipoprotein secretion.