scholarly journals Decreased lipid efflux and increased susceptibility to cholesterol-induced apoptosis in macrophages lacking phosphatidylcholine transfer protein

2005 ◽  
Vol 388 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan M. BAEZ ◽  
Ira TABAS ◽  
David E. COHEN

Macrophages are the predominant cellular component of atherosclerotic lesions, where they scavenge oxidatively modified lipoproteins while defending themselves against cholesterol-induced cytotoxicity by adaptive mechanisms that depend in part on the synthesis, distribution and efflux of phosphatidylcholines. PC-TP (phosphatidylcholine transfer protein) is a START (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein-related lipid transfer) domain protein that catalyses the intermembrane transfer of phosphatidylcholines and promotes apolipoprotein AI-mediated lipid efflux when overexpressed in the cytosol of Chinese-hamster ovary cells. To explore a role for PC-TP in the adaptive responses of macrophages to cholesterol loading, we utilized peritoneal macrophages from mice with homozygous disruption of the gene encoding PC-TP (Pctp−/−) and wild-type littermate controls. PC-TP was abundantly expressed in macrophages from wild-type but not Pctp−/− mice. In cholesteryl ester-loaded macrophages from Pctp−/− mice, the apolipoprotein AI-mediated efflux of phospholipids and cholesterol was decreased. This could be attributed to proportional decreases in the expression levels of ATP-binding cassette A1. Also, in response to free cholesterol loading, the absence of PC-TP from macrophages was associated with marked increases in apoptotic cell death. These findings suggest that PC-TP in macrophages may serve an atheroprotective role by defending against cholesterol-induced cytotoxicity.

Pathology ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanda B. Mackinnon ◽  
Marlen Dyne ◽  
Rebecca Hancock ◽  
Carolyn E. Mountford ◽  
Adrienne J. Grant ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 290 (3) ◽  
pp. C691-C701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madalina Condrescu ◽  
John P. Reeves

In the present study, the bovine cardiac Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX1.1) was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. The surface distribution of the exchanger protein, externally tagged with the hemagglutinin (HA) epitope, was associated with underlying actin filaments in regions of cell-to-cell contact and also along stress fibers. After we treated cells with cytochalasin D, NCX1.1 protein colocalized with patches of fragmented filamentous actin (F-actin). In contrast, an HA-tagged deletion mutant of NCX1.1 that was missing much of the exchanger's central hydrophilic domain Δ(241–680) did not associate with F-actin. In cells expressing the wild-type exchanger, cytochalasin D inhibited allosteric Ca2+ activation of NCX activity as shown by prolongation of the lag phase of low Ca2+ uptake after initiation of the reverse (i.e., Ca2+ influx) mode of NCX activity. Other agents that perturbed F-actin structure (methyl-β-cyclodextrin, latrunculin B, and jasplakinolide) also increased the duration of the lag phase. In contrast, when reverse-mode activity was initiated after allosteric Ca2+ activation, both cytochalasin D and methyl-β-cyclodextrin (Me-β-CD) stimulated NCX activity by ∼70%. The activity of the Δ(241–680) mutant, which does not require allosteric Ca2+ activation, was also stimulated by cytochalasin D and Me-β-CD. The increased activity after these treatments appeared to reflect an increased amount of exchanger protein at the cell surface. We conclude that wild-type NCX1.1 associates with the F-actin cytoskeleton, probably through interactions involving the exchanger's central hydrophilic domain, and that this association interferes with allosteric Ca2+ activation.


1994 ◽  
Vol 302 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Inukai ◽  
T Asano ◽  
H Katagiri ◽  
M Anai ◽  
M Funaki ◽  
...  

A mutated GLUT1 glucose transporter, a Trp-388, 412 mutant whose tryptophans 388 and 412 were both replaced by leucines, was constructed by site-directed mutagenesis and expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Glucose transport activity was decreased to approx. 30% in the Trp-388, 412 mutant compared with that in the wild type, a similar decrease in transport activity had been observed previously in the Trp-388 mutant and the Trp-412 mutant which had leucine at 388 and 412 respectively. Cytochalasin B labelling of the Trp-388 mutant was only decreased rather than abolished, a result similar to that obtained previously for the Trp-412 mutant. Cytochalasin B labelling was finally abolished completely in the Trp-388, 412 mutant, while cytochalasin B binding to this mutant was decreased to approx. 30% of that of the wild-type GLUT1 at the concentration used for photolabelling. This level of binding is thought to be adequate to detect labelling, assuming that the labelling efficiency of these transporters is similar. These findings suggest that cytochalasin B binds to the transmembrane domain of the glucose transporter in the vicinity of helix 10-11, and is inserted covalently by photoactivation at either the 388 or the 412 site.


1989 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1754-1758
Author(s):  
T M Underhill ◽  
W F Flintoff

A methotrexate-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell line deficient in methotrexate uptake has been complemented to methotrexate sensitivity by transfection with DNA isolated from either wild-type Chinese hamster ovary or human G2 cells. Primary and secondary transfectants regained the ability to take up methotrexate in a manner similar to that of wild-type cells, and in the case of those transfected with human DNA, to contain human-specific DNA sequences. The complementation by DNA-mediated gene transfer of this methotrexate-resistant phenotype provides a basis for the cloning of a gene involved in methotrexate uptake.


1983 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 1172-1181
Author(s):  
W E Bradley

Two classes of cell lines heterozygous at the galactokinase (glk) locus have been isolated from Chinese hamster ovary cells. Class I, selected by plating nonmutagenized wild-type cells at low density in medium containing 2-deoxygalactose at a partially selective concentration, underwent subsequent mutation to the glk-/- genotype at a low frequency (approximately 10(-6) per cell), which was increased by mutagenesis. Class II heterozygotes, isolated by sib selection from mutagenized wild-type cells, had a higher spontaneous frequency of mutation to the homozygous state (approximately 10(-4) per cell), which was not affected by mutagenesis. About half of the glk-/- mutants derived from a class II heterozygote, but not the heterozygote itself, were functionally hemizygous at the syntenic thymidine kinase (tk) locus. Similarly, a tk+/- heterozygote with characteristics analogous to the class II glk+/- cell lines underwent high-frequency mutation to tk-/-, and most of these mutants, but not the tk+/- heterozygote, were functionally hemizygous at the glk locus. A model is proposed, similar to that for the mutational events at the adenine phosphoribosyl transferase locus (W. E. C. Bradley and D. Letovanec, Somatic Cell Genet. 8:51-66, 1982), of two different events, high and low frequency, being responsible for mutation at either of the linked loci tk and glk. The low-frequency event may be a point mutation, but the high-frequency event, in many instances, involves coordinated inactivation of a portion of a chromosome carrying the two linked alleles. Class II heterozygotes would be generated as a result of a low-frequency event at one allele, and class I heterozygotes would be generated by a high-frequency event. Supporting this model was the demonstration that all class I glk+/- lines examined were functionally hemizygous at tk.


1993 ◽  
Vol 264 (6) ◽  
pp. L598-L605
Author(s):  
B. Warner ◽  
R. Papes ◽  
M. Heile ◽  
D. Spitz ◽  
J. Wispe

Manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn SOD) is an important component of antioxidant defense in aerobic cells because of its location in the mitochondria, a significant source of oxygen radicals and an important target of oxidant injury. To test the hypothesis that increased mitochondrial Mn SOD protects from oxidant injury, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were transfected with a eukaryotic expression vector containing the human Mn SOD cDNA. In recombinant CHO cells, Mn SOD activity was increased threefold over wild-type controls. Acute survival during paraquat exposure (0–500 microM) was significantly improved in CHO cells expressing human Mn SOD, with 71% of recombinant CHO cells surviving at the 50% lethal dose (LD50) for wild-type CHO controls. Cell growth following exposure to paraquat (100 microM) was also significantly improved in recombinant CHO cells. CHO cells expressing human Mn SOD continued to grow and divide after paraquat exposure, whereas growth of wild-type CHO cells was negligible. Protection against oxidant-induced injury was directly related to increased Mn SOD, occurring in the absence of changes in other antioxidant enzymes including catalase, Cu,Zn SOD, and glutathione associated cellular antioxidant mechanisms. We conclude that increased expression of human Mn SOD in vitro directly confers protection against oxidant injury.


2017 ◽  
Vol 313 (1) ◽  
pp. G50-G61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley T. Nicholls ◽  
Jason L. Hornick ◽  
David E. Cohen

Mice fed a methionine- and choline-deficient (MCD) diet develop steatohepatitis that recapitulates key features of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in humans. Phosphatidylcholine is the most abundant phospholipid in the surfactant monolayer that coats and stabilizes lipid droplets within cells, and choline is required for its major biosynthetic pathway. Phosphatidylcholine-transfer protein (PC-TP), which exchanges phosphatidylcholines among membranes, is enriched in hepatocytes. PC-TP also regulates fatty acid metabolism through interactions with thioesterase superfamily member 2. We investigated the contribution of PC-TP to steatohepatitis induced by the MCD diet. Pctp−/− and wild-type control mice were fed the MCD diet for 5 wk and were then euthanized for histopathologic and biochemical analyses, as well as determinations of mRNA and protein expression. Whereas all mice developed steatohepatitis, plasma alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities were only elevated in wild-type mice, indicating that Pctp−/− mice were protected from MCD diet-induced hepatocellular injury. Reduced hepatotoxicity due to the MCD diet in the absence of PC-TP expression was further evidenced by decreased activation of c-Jun and reduced plasma concentrations of fibroblast growth factor 21. Despite similar total hepatic concentrations of phosphatidylcholines and other lipids, the relative abundance of microvesicular lipid droplets within hepatocytes was reduced in Pctp−/− mice. Considering that the formation of larger lipid droplets may serve to protect against lipotoxicity in NASH, our findings suggest a pathogenic role for PC-TP that could be targeted in the management of this condition. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Phosphatidylcholine-transfer protein (PC-TP) is a highly specific phosphatidylcholine-binding protein that we previously showed to regulate hepatocellular nutrient metabolism through its interacting partner thioesterase superfamily member 2 (Them2). This study identifies a pathogenic role for PC-TP, independent of Them2, in the methionine- and choline-deficient diet model of experimental steatohepatitis. Our current observations suggest that PC-TP promotes liver injury by mediating the intermembrane transfer of phosphatidylcholines, thus stabilizing more pathogenic microvesicular lipid droplets.


1987 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 2713-2721 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Yamashiro ◽  
F R Maxfield

Acidification of endocytic compartments is necessary for the proper sorting and processing of many ligands and their receptors. Robbins and co-workers have obtained Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutants that are pleiotropically defective in endocytosis and deficient in ATP-dependent acidification of endosomes isolated by density centrifugation (Robbins, A. R., S. S. Peng, and J. L. Marshall. 1983. J. Cell Biol. 96:1064-1071; Robbins, A. R., C. Oliver, J. L. Bateman, S. S. Krag, C. J. Galloway, and I. Mellman. 1984. J. Cell Biol. 99:1296-1308). In this and the following paper (Yamashiro, D. J., and F. R. Maxfield. 1987. J. Cell Biol. 105:2723-2733) we describe detailed studies of endosome acidification in the mutant and wild-type CHO cells. Here we describe a new microspectrofluorometry method based on changes in fluorescein fluorescence when all cellular compartments are equilibrated to the same pH value. Using this method we measured the pH of endocytic compartments during the first minutes of endocytosis. We found in wild-type CHO cells that after 3 min, fluorescein-labeled dextran (F-Dex) was in endosomes having an average pH of 6.3. By 10 min, both F-Dex and fluorescein-labeled alpha 2-macroglobulin (F-alpha 2M) had reached acidic endosomes having an average pH of 6.0 or below. In contrast, endosome acidification in the CHO mutants DTG 1-5-4 and DTF 1-5-1 was markedly slowed. The average endosomal pH after 5 min was 6.7 in both mutant cell lines. At least 15 min was required for F-Dex and F-alpha 2M to reach an average pH of 6.0 in DTG 1-5-4. Acidification of early endocytic compartments is defective in the CHO mutants DTG 1-5-4 and DTF 1-5-1, but pH regulation of later compartments on both the recycling pathway and lysosomal pathway is nearly normal. The properties of the mutant cells suggest that proper functioning of pH regulatory mechanisms in early endocytic compartments is critical for many pH-mediated processes of endocytosis.


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