Free radical modification of lipoproteins and cholesterol accumulation in cells upon atherosclerosis.

An electron spin probe study was made of the effect of lipid peroxidation (LPO) on the structure of surface proteolipid layer of human serum low-density lipoproteins (LDL). The results obtained with a positively charged spin label and stearic acid spin probes with doxyl labels at positions 5, 12, and 16 revealed that LPO caused a decrease in phospholipid molecule mobility both in the region of polar heads and in the region of acyl chains till the depth of at least 1.7 mm from water-lipid interface. Under relatively high levels of oxidation (more than 6 mumol MDA/g LDL phospholipid) the polarity of lipid phase increased. The decrease in efficiency of tryptophan fluorescence quenching by nitroxide fragments incorporated in hydrophobic regions at the depth of approximately 2 nm from water-lipid interface indicated that lipid-protein interaction was disturbed as a result of oxidation of LDL lipids. In addition, the LPO-induced modification of apo-B, the main protein of LDL, was examined with maleimide spin label. LPO led to increase in mobility of strongly immobilized maleimide labels and in the number of weakly immobilized ones. Oxidized LDL revealed decreased ability to incorporate spin-labeled steroid (androstane) as compared to native ones. LPO-induced structural changes of LDL surface are supposed to be a reason of enhanced accumulation of cholesterol in human monocytes during their incubation with oxidized LDL. The cholesterol content in red cells was shown to be directly correlated to MDA content in apo-B containing lipoproteins but not in whole serum. Our findings suggest that free radical modification of serum lipoproteins but not solely an increased level of LPO products in blood is one important cause for cholesterol accumulation in cells and, apparently, for their transformation into foam cells during atherosclerosis.

Antioxidant properties of albumin during the oxidation of linolenic acid and low density lipoproteins in the presence of ferrous ions.

A spin-labelled fatty acid with an epr spectrum that is sensitive to the localization of the probe was used to show that albumin binds free fatty acids present in solution and also free fatty acids present in low density lipoproteins (LDL). Furthermore, albumin binds the thiobarbituric acid-reactive (TBA-reactive) products formed during the oxidation of linolenic acid, whereas the TBA-reactive substances formed during the oxidation of LDL are not bound by albumin. Linolenic acid bound to albumin essentially does not undergo peroxidation in the presence of ferrous ions, in contrast to a suspension of linolenic acid and LDL in which peroxidation occurs quite readily in the presence of ferrous ions. The highest rate of oxidation was found for linolenic acid alone. Albumin-bound spin-labelled fatty acid was essentially not reduced by ferrous ions, whereas free fatty acid or fatty acid incorporated into LDL was reduced quite rapidly, the highest rate of reduction being for free fatty acids. Thus the ability of fatty acids to undergo oxidation correlates with their accessibility to ferrous ions. The data obtained indicate that serum albumin is a relatively effective antioxidant in the blood and its mode of action is based on the immobilization of free fatty acids.

Free-radical generation by monocytes and neutrophils: a possible cause of plasma lipoprotein modification.

The activation of freshly isolated human blood monocytes and neutrophils monitored by oxidized human plasma lipoproteins (LP) was measured by detecting luminol-amplified chemiluminescence. The activation was accompanied by production of superoxide radicals. This finding was confirmed by measuring superoxide dismutase-sensitive reduction of cytochrome c. Incubation of monocytes or neutrophils with low-density lipoproteins (LDL) resulted in the accumulation of lipid peroxidation (LPO) products which were assayed by the 2-thiobarbituric acid test. Data from inhibitory analysis suggest that the hydroxyl radical scavenger, mannitol, had no appreciable effect on the accumulation of LPO products during the incubation of LDL with either cell type. However, catalase, superoxide dismutase, the metal ion chelators desferrioxamine and EDTA, as well as the free radical scavenger, butylated hydroxytoluene, markedly decreased the accumulation of LPO products in the medium--by 88%, 67%, 38%, 52%, and 47%, respectively, after incubation of LDL with monocytes, and by 65%, 47%, 41%, 65%, and 100% after incubation of LDL with neutrophils. These results indicate that activation of monocytes and neutrophils by oxidized LP intensifies LPO which proceeds via a free-radical mechanism that is superoxide-dependent and is catalyzed by transition metals.

Free radical lipid oxidation affects cholesterol transfer between lipoproteins and erythrocytes.

Human erythrocytes were incubated for 5 h at 37 degrees C with lipoproteins (LP), preliminary oxidized to different extent, as assessed by thiobarbituric acid (TBA) test. Cholesterol content in the cells was increased by 12-14% after incubation with low-density lipoproteins (LDL) along with augmentation of order parameter and rotational correlation time of spin-labeled stearic acids incorporated into membranes. If erythrocytes were incubated with oxidized LDL, containing 2.5-4 times more TBA-reactive material than native ones, cellular content of cholesterol was increased by 24-28%. In contrast, high-density lipoproteins (HDL2 and HDL3) removed cholesterol from cell membranes, when incubated with erythrocytes. This was followed by increased fluidity of membrane lipid phase as detected by the spin probe method. Oxidation of HDL2 and HDL3 decreased their ability to accept cholesterol from cell membranes. No detectable accumulation of TBA-reactive material was observed in the samples during the incubation. The antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), in the concentration of 10(-5) M did not influence the cholesterol transfer between LP and erythrocytes. Hence, the effects of lipid peroxidation (LPO) on the cholesterol transfer seem to result from LP alterations by oxidation rather than from free radical reactions occurring during the incubation. By increasing cholesterol-donating ability of LDL and inhibition of cholesterol-accepting capacity of HDL lipid peroxidation in LP may activate cholesterol accumulation in blood vessel cells and thus contribute to atherosclerosis.

[Lipid peroxidation--the factor promoting cholesterol accumulation in cells in atherogenesis]. / Perekisnoe okislenie lipidov--faktor, sposobstvuiushchii nakopleniiu kholesterina v kletkakh pri aterogeneze.

The cholesterol transfer between human erythrocytes and main classes of serum lipoproteins (LP) from healthy donors and artery-coronary disease patients was studied (artery-coronary disease is the main manifestation of atherosclerosis). It is shown that low-density lipoproteins (LDL) are capable of transporting cholesterol to erythrocytes, which lack the specific receptors for LDL. The cell cholesterol content in comparison with erythrocytes incubated without LDL was increased by 11.4%. The effect was even higher in case of LDL, isolated from serum of artery-coronary subjects (the cell cholesterol content was increased by 33.8%). High-density lipoproteins (HDL) accept cholesterol from cell membranes. However, cholesterol-accepting properties of HDL from artery-coronary disease patients were suppressed as compared with normal HDL. Both discovered events must promote the cholesterol accumulation in cell membranes in atherosclerosis. As it is shown by the spin probe method, lipid peroxidation (LPO) causes the disturbance of the structural organization of LP and as the consequence of that--the increase of LDL cholesterol-donating ability and the decrease of HDL cholesterol-accepting ability. The greater LDL are oxidized, the more cholesterol they transport to erythrocytes during incubation. The greater is the level of HDL peroxidation, the stronger their cholesterol-accepting function is suppressed. These results suggest that LPO can play an important role in LP modification, the disturbance of their interaction with cell surface and the cholesterol accumulation in cells in atherosclerosis.