How omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) lower plasma lipid levels is incompletely understood. We previously showed that marine omega-3 PUFAs (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA] and eicosapentaenoic acid) stimulate a novel pathway, post-ER presecretory proteolysis (PERPP), that degrades apolipoprotein B100 (ApoB100), thereby reducing lipoprotein secretion from liver cells. To identify signals stimulating PERPP, we examined known actions of omega-3 PUFA. In rat hepatoma or primary rodent hepatocytes incubated with omega-3 PUFA, cotreatment with the iron chelator desferrioxamine, an inhibitor of iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, or vitamin E, a lipid antioxidant, suppressed increases in thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARSs; a measure of lipid peroxidation products) and restored ApoB100 recovery and VLDL secretion. Moreover, omega-6 and nonmarine omega-3 PUFA, also prone to peroxidation, increased ApoB100 degradation via intracellular induction of TBARSs. Even without added fatty acids, degradation of ApoB100 in primary hepatocytes was blocked by desferrioxamine or antioxidant cotreatment. To extend these results in vivo, mice were infused with DHA, which increased hepatic TBARSs and reduced VLDL-ApoB100 secretion. These results establish a novel link between lipid peroxidation and oxidant stress with ApoB100 degradation via PERPP, and may be relevant to the hypolipidemic actions of dietary PUFAs, the basal regulation of ApoB100 secretion, and hyperlipidemias arising from ApoB100 overproduction.

Hepatic secretion of apolipoprotein-B (apoB), the major protein of atherogenic lipoproteins, is regulated through posttranslational degradation. We reported a degradation pathway, post-ER presecretory proteolysis (PERPP), that is increased by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated within hepatocytes from dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). We now report the molecular processes by which PUFA-derived ROS regulate PERPP of apoB. ApoB exits the ER; undergoes limited oxidant-dependent aggregation; and then, upon exit from the Golgi, becomes extensively oxidized and converted into large aggregates. The aggregates slowly degrade by an autophagic process. None of the oxidized, aggregated material leaves cells, thereby preventing export of apoBlipoproteins containing potentially toxic lipid peroxides. In summary, apoB secretory control via PERPP/autophagosomes is likely a key component of normal and pathologic regulation of plasma apoB levels, as well as a means for remarkably late-stage quality control of a secreted protein.

Genetic deficiency of the plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) in mice unexpectedly causes a substantial impairment in liver secretion of apolipoprotein-B (apoB), the major protein of atherogenic lipoproteins. To explore the mechanism, we examined the three known pathways for hepatic apoB secretory control, namely endoplasmic reticulum (ER)/proteasome-associated degradation (ERAD), post-ER pre-secretory proteolysis (PERPP), and receptor-mediated degradation, also known as re-uptake. First, we found that ERAD and cell surface re-uptake were not active in PLTP-null hepatocytes. Moreover, ERto-Golgi blockade by brefeldin A, which enhances ERAD, equalized total apoB recovery from PLTP-null and wildtype cells, indicating that the relevant process occurs post-ER. Second, because PERPP can be stimulated by intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), we examined hepatic redox status. Although we found previously that PLTP-null mice exhibit elevated plasma concentrations of vitamin E, a lipid anti-oxidant, we now discovered that their livers contain significantly less vitamin E and significantly more lipid peroxides than do livers of wild-type mice. Third, to establish a causal connection, the addition of vitamin E or treatment with an inhibitor of intracellular iron-dependent peroxidation, desferrioxamine, abolished the elevation in cellular ROS as well as the defect in apoB secretion from PLTP-null hepatocytes. Overall, we conclude that PLTP deficiency decreases liver vitamin E content, increases hepatic oxidant tone, and substantially enhances ROS-dependent destruction of newly synthesized apoB via a post-ER process. These findings are likely to be broadly relevant to hepatic apoB secretory control in vivo.The plasma phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) 1 is a key participant in the transport of hydrophobic molecules within the circulation. Partially purified PLTP was originally shown in vitro to mediate the transfer and exchange of phospholipids between plasma lipoproteins (1-3). Purified PLTP in vitro also transfers ␣-tocopherol (vitamin E), a naturally occurring hydrophobic anti-oxidant (4). To examine PLTP in vivo, we engineered genetically deficient mice and found that the loss of PLTP lowered plasma high density lipoprotein levels and altered plasma ␣-tocopherol transport, consistent with the previous work in vitro (5). Unexpectedly, however, we also found that PLTP deficiency caused a large impairment in the hepatic secretion of apolipoprotein-B (apoB), the major protein of atherogenic lipoproteins (6). The net effect of these changes was a decreased susceptibility to atherosclerosis (6). Likewise, it was reported recently that animals overexpressing PLTP exhibit hepatic very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) overproduction (7) and increased athero-susceptibility (8). Associations of plasma PLTP activity with elevated apoB levels (9) and increased cardiovascular risk (10) have been found in humans as well. These findings have led to an interest in PLTP as a potential therapeutic target. Nevertheless, the...

We previously showed that ⍀-3 fatty acids reduce secretion of apolipoprotein B (apoB) from cultured hepatocytes by stimulating post-translational degradation. In this report, we now characterize this process, particularly in regard to the two known processes that degrade newly synthesized apoB, endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation and re-uptake from the cell surface. First, we found that ⍀-3-induced degradation preferentially reduces the secretion of large, assembled apoBlipoprotein particles, and apoB polypeptide length is not a determinant. Second, based on several experimental approaches, ER-associated degradation is not involved. Third, re-uptake, the only process known to destroy fully assembled nascent lipoproteins, was clearly active in primary hepatocytes, but ⍀-3-induced degradation of apoB continued even when re-uptake was blocked. Cell fractionation showed that ⍀-3 fatty acids induced a striking loss of apoB 100 from the Golgi, while sparing apoB 100 in the ER, indicating a post-ER process. To determine the signaling involved, we used wortmannin, a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, which blocked most, if not all, of the ⍀-3 fatty acid effect. Therefore, nascent apoB is subject to ER-associated degradation, re-uptake, and a third distinct degradative pathway that appears to target lipoproteins after considerable assembly and involves a post-ER compartment and PI3K signaling. Physiologic, pathophysiologic, and pharmacologic regulation of net apoB secretion may involve alterations in any of these three degradative steps.Apolipoprotein B (apoB), 1 the major protein of atherogenic lipoproteins, is synthesized primarily by hepatic and intestinal cells. Most studies have focused on apoB metabolism in the liver, given the greater contribution to the plasma apoB pool made by that organ and the availability of relatively convenient primary and transformed hepatic cell models. The apoB message level and translational rate in hepatic cells are largely constitutive, and so secretory control is achieved primarily through co-and post-translational degradation of the protein (e.g. see Refs. 2-4 for recent reviews). Two specific mechanisms for the destruction of newly synthesized apoB in hepatic cells have been characterized. The first is endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD). Newly synthesized apoB in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is initially complexed with small amounts of lipid that are thought to be shuttled by the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) (5). During severe lipid deprivation (6, 7) or MTP deficiency (8, 9), this initial lipidation fails, and the apoB becomes ubiquitinylated, which targets it for degradation by proteasomes (10 -14).The second mechanism for degradation of newly synthesized apoB is the re-uptake pathway. Re-uptake can occur after fully assembled apoB-containing particles have been exported across the plasma membrane but before they have diffused away from the vicinity of the cell by traversing the unstirred water layer that is adjacent...

How ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) lower plasma lipid levels is incompletely understood. We previously showed that marine ω-3 PUFAs (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA] and eicosapentaenoic acid) stimulate a novel pathway, post-ER presecretory proteolysis (PERPP), that degrades apolipoprotein B100 (ApoB100), thereby reducing lipoprotein secretion from liver cells. To identify signals stimulating PERPP, we examined known actions of ω-3 PUFA. In rat hepatoma or primary rodent hepatocytes incubated with ω-3 PUFA, cotreatment with the iron chelator desferrioxamine, an inhibitor of iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, or vitamin E, a lipid antioxidant, suppressed increases in thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARSs; a measure of lipid peroxidation products) and restored ApoB100 recovery and VLDL secretion. Moreover, ω-6 and nonmarine ω-3 PUFA, also prone to peroxidation, increased ApoB100 degradation via intracellular induction of TBARSs. Even without added fatty acids, degradation of ApoB100 in primary hepatocytes was blocked by desferrioxamine or antioxidant cotreatment. To extend these results in vivo, mice were infused with DHA, which increased hepatic TBARSs and reduced VLDL-ApoB100 secretion. These results establish a novel link between lipid peroxidation and oxidant stress with ApoB100 degradation via PERPP, and may be relevant to the hypolipidemic actions of dietary PUFAs, the basal regulation of ApoB100 secretion, and hyperlipidemias arising from ApoB100 overproduction.

The asymmetric distribution of free cholesterol (FC) within the endomembrane system makes apparent the high level of regulation associated with intracellular cholesterol transport. For example, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) has very low levels of FC (0.1% to 2% of total cellular FC), whereas the plasma membrane (PM), which has similar surface area to the ER, contains 65% to 80% of total cellular FC ( 1 ). The precise mechanism responsible for this intracellular cholesterol gradient is not well understood, but it is likely achieved through the concerted efforts of a number of different homeostatic mechanisms, including tightly controlled transport processes.Both vesicular transport, an ATP-dependent process requiring an intact cytoskeleton, and nonvesicular transport, which involves carrier proteins and occurs independent of ATP, have been implicated in intracellular cholesterol movement ( 2 ). Examples of the latter include experiments treating macrophages and fi broblasts with sphingomyelinase, which triggers the release of cholesterol from the PM to the ER, resulting in ACAT-mediated cholesterol esterifi cation ( 3, 4 ). This occurs, albeit at a reduced rate, even under conditions of ATP depletion or in the presence of vesicular traffi cking inhibitors, implicating nonvesicular pathways in the transport of cholesterol ( 5 ). Furthermore, cholesterol is transported to mitochondria, which are not directly connected to the vesicular cholesterol transport network, to serve as the starting material for the synthesis of steroid hormones ( 6-8 ). These and other observations suggest that nonvesicular cholesterol transport proteins play a key role in maintaining intracellular cholesterol homeostasis.Abstract STARD4, a member of the evolutionarily conserved START gene family, has been implicated in the nonvesicular intracellular transport of cholesterol. However, the direction of transport and the membranes with which this protein interacts are not clear. We present studies of STARD4 function using small hairpin RNA knockdown technology to reduce STARD4 expression in HepG2 cells. In a cholesterol-poor environment, we found that a reduction in STARD4 expression leads to retention of cholesterol at the plasma membrane, reduction of endoplasmic reticulum-associated cholesterol, and decreased ACAT synthesized cholesteryl esters. Furthermore, D4 KD cells exhibited a reduced rate of sterol transport to the endocytic recycling compartment after cholesterol repletion. Although these cells displayed normal endocytic traffi cking in cholesterol-poor and replete conditions, cell surface low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) levels were increased and decreased, respectively. We also observed a decrease in NPC1 protein expression, suggesting the induction of compensatory pathways to maintain cholesterol balance. These data indicate a role for STARD4 in nonvesicular transport of cholesterol from the plasma membrane and the endocytic recycling compartment to the endoplasmic reticulum and perhaps other intracellular compartments as...

No abstract

Fatty acids of varying lengths and saturation differentially affect plasma apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB-100) levels. To identify mechanisms at the level of production, rat hepatoma cells, McA-RH7777, were incubated with [ 35 S]methionine and either fatty acid-BSA complexes or BSA alone. There were increases in labeled apoB-100 secretion with saturated fatty acids palmitic and myristic (MA) (153 ؎ 20% and 165 ؎ 11%, respectively, relative to BSA). Incubation with polyunsaturated docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) decreased secretion to 26 ؎ 2.0%, while monounsaturated oleic acid (OA) did not change it. In pulse-chase studies, MA treatment resulted in reduced apoB-100 degradation, in agreement with its promotion of secretion. In triglyceride (TG) studies, synthesis was stimulated equally by OA, MA, and DHA, but TG secretion was relatively decreased with MA and DHA. With OA, the majority of newly secreted apoB100-lipoproteins was d р 1.006, but with MA, they were much denser (1.063 Ͻ d). Furthermore, the relative recruitment of newly synthesized TG to lipoproteins was impaired with MA. We conclude that mechanisms for effects of specific dietary fatty acids on plasma lipoprotein levels may include changes in hepatic production. In turn, hepatic production may be regulated by specific fatty acids at the steps of apoB-100 degradation and the recruitment of nascent TG to lipoprotein particles. -Kummrow, E., M. M. Hussain, M. Pan, J. B. Marsh, and E. A. Fisher. Myristic acid increases dense lipoprotein secretion by inhibiting apoB degradation and triglyceride recruitment.