Unique cellular events occurring during the initial interaction of macrophages with matrix-retained or methylated aggregated low density lipoprotein (LDL). Prolonged cell-surface contact during which ldl-cholesteryl ester hydrolysis exceeds ldl protein degradation.

A critical event in atherogenesis is the interaction of arterial wall macrophages with subendothelial lipoproteins. Although most studies have investigated this interaction by incubating cultured macrophages with monomeric lipoproteins dissolved in media, arterial wall macrophages encounter lipoproteins that are mostly bound to subendothelial extracellular matrix, and these lipoproteins are often aggregated or fused. Herein, we utilize a specialized cell-culture system to study the initial interaction of macrophages with aggregated low density lipoprotein (LDL) bound to extracellular matrix. The aggregated LDL remains extracellular for a relatively prolonged period of time and becomes lodged in invaginations in the surface of the macrophages. As expected, the degradation of the protein moiety of the LDL was very slow. Remarkably, however, hydrolysis of the cholesteryl ester (CE) moiety of the LDL was 3-7-fold higher than that of the protein moiety, in stark contrast to the situation with receptor-mediated endocytosis of acetyl-LDL. Similar results were obtained using another experimental system in which the degradation of aggregated LDL protein was delayed by LDL methylation rather than by retention on matrix. Additional experiments indicated the following properties of this interaction: (a) LDL-CE hydrolysis is catalyzed by lysosomal acid lipase; (b) neither scavenger receptors nor the LDL receptor appear necessary for the excess LDL-CE hydrolysis; and (c) LDL-CE hydrolysis in this system is resistant to cellular potassium depletion, which further distinguishes this process from receptor-mediated endocytosis. In summary, experimental systems specifically designed to mimic the in vivo interaction of arterial wall macrophages with subendothelial lipoproteins have demonstrated an initial period of prolonged cell-surface contact in which CE hydrolysis exceeds protein degradation.

Immunolocalization of acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol O-acyltransferase in macrophages.

Macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions accumulate large amounts of cholesteryl-fatty acyl esters ("foam cell" formation) through the intracellular esterification of cholesterol by acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol O-acyltransferase (ACAT). In this study, we sought to determine the subcellular localization of ACAT in macrophages. Using mouse peritoneal macrophages and immunofluorescence microscopy, we found that a major portion of ACAT was in a dense reticular cytoplasmic network and in the nuclear membrane that colocalized with the luminal endoplasmic reticulum marker protein-disulfide isomerase (PDI) and that was in a similar distribution as the membrane-bound endoplasmic reticulum marker ribophorin. Remarkably, another portion of the macrophage ACAT pattern did not overlap with PDI or ribophorin, but was found in as yet unidentified cytoplasmic structures that were juxtaposed to the nucleus. Compartments containing labeled beta-very low density lipoprotein, an atherogenic lipoprotein, did not overlap with the ACAT label, but rather were embedded in the dense reticular network of ACAT. Furthermore, cell-surface biotinylation experiments revealed that freshly harvested, non-attached macrophages, but not those attached to tissue culture dishes, contained approximately 10-15% of ACAT on the cell surface. In summary, ACAT was found in several sites in macrophages: a cytoplasmic reticular/nuclear membrane site that overlaps with PDI and ribophorin and has the characteristics of the endoplasmic reticulum, a perinuclear cytoplasmic site that does not overlap with PDI or ribophorin and may be another cytoplasmic structure or possibly a unique subcompartment of the endoplasmic reticulum, and a cell-surface site in non-attached macrophages. Understanding possible physiological differences of ACAT in these locations may reveal an important component of ACAT regulation and macrophage foam cell formation.

Ultrafast glycerophospholipid-selective transbilayer motion mediated by a protein in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane.

A relatively rapid transbilayer motion of phospholipids in the microsomal membrane seems to be required due to their asymmetric synthesis in the cytoplasmic leaflet. Marked discrepancies exist with regard to the rate and specificity of this flip-flop process. To reinvestigate this problem, we have used both spin-labeled and radioactively labeled long chain phospholipids with a new fast translocation assay. Identical results were obtained with both types of probes. Transbilayer motion of glycerophospholipids was found to be much more rapid than previously reported (half-time less than 25 s) and to occur identically for phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, and phosphatidylethanolamine. Such transport is nonvectorial and leads to a symmetric transbilayer distribution of phospholipids. In contrast, transverse diffusion of sphingomyelin was 1 order of magnitude slower. Phospholipid flip-flop appears to occur by a protein-mediated transport process displaying saturable and competitive behavior. Proteolysis, chemical modification, and competition experiments suggest that this transport process may be related to that previously described in the endoplasmic reticulum for short-chain phosphatidylcholine (Bishop, W. R., and Bell, R. M. (1985) Cell 42, 51-60). The relationship between phospholipid flip-flop and nonbilayer structures occurring in the endoplasmic reticulum was also investigated by 31P-NMR. Several conditions were found under which the 31P isotropic NMR signal previously attributed to nonbilayer structures is decreased or abolished, whereas transbilayer diffusion is unaffected, suggesting that the flip-flop process is independent of such structures. It is concluded that flip-flop in the endoplasmic reticulum is mediated by a bidirectional protein transporter with a high efficiency for glycerophospholipids and a low efficiency for sphingomyelin. In vivo, the activity of this transporter would be able to redistribute all changes in phospholipid composition due to biosynthetic processes between the two leaflets of the endoplasmic reticulum membranes within a time scale of seconds.