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M R McCall

Publications and source records attributed to M R McCall.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Apolipoprotein A-I-cell membrane interaction: extracellular assembly of heterogeneous nascent HDL particles.

The ability of lipid-free human apoA-I expressed by transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to form apoA-I-lipid complexes extracellularly when incubated with CHO cell monolayers was investigated. Lipid-free apoA-I was incubated with nontransfected CHO-C19 cells for 24 h and extracellular assembly products were isolated at d < or = 1.235 g/ml; approximately 12% of the incubated apoA-I floated at d < or = 1.235 g/ml when apoA-I was added at 10 micrograms/ml. The composition of the particles was 51.3% protein, 20.3% phospholipid, and 28.3% cholesterol. Electron microscopy of the apoA-I-lipid complexes revealed that discoidal particles 15.4 +/- 4.1 nm diameter predominated but some vesicular particles 34.7 +/- 16.8 nm diameter were also in evidence. Nondenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of the extracellular assembly products formed after 24 h incubation with 10 micrograms/ml apoA-I showed particle size heterogeneity with major bands at 11.2 and 9.0 nm; additional minor components banded at 7.3, 17.7, and 19.5 nm. This size distribution, as well as composition and electron microscopic structure, is similar to that of complexes isolated from the medium of CHO cells transfected with the human apoA-I gene. The formation of extracellular assembly complexes was concentration-dependent such that at 2 micrograms apoA-I/ml for 24 h, primarily 7.3 nm complexes were formed; at 4 micrograms/ml the distribution was more heterogeneous and the major band peaked at 9.2 nm, while at 8 micrograms/ml the 7.3 nm component was greatly diminished and the 11.2 nm component was the major one.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Transformation of HepG2 nascent lipoproteins by LCAT: modulation by HepG2 d > 1.235 g/ml fraction.

We have previously shown that lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) can transform ultracentrifugally isolated HepG2 lipoproteins (d < 1.235 g/ml) into particles that differ substantially from their nascent precursors. Transformed high density lipoprotein (HDL) subpopulations, as judged by nondenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (GGE), resemble plasma HDL, i.e., HDL2a- and HDL3a-sized particles predominate. In HepG2 conditioned medium (CM), 60-70% of apoA-I is in the d > 1.235 g/ml fraction (lipid-poor apoA-I); hence we investigated whether inclusion of d > 1.235 g/ml fraction in LCAT incubations altered HDL subpopulations. After 18 h incubation of CM (containing lipoproteins and d > 1.235 g/ml fraction) with purified LCAT, the major transformation product on GGE was a large 9.7-nm particle (HDL2b pattern); a minor component appeared at 7.4 nm (HDL3c). Differences in particle size distribution between CM and isolated lipoprotein incubations were not the result of differences in LCAT activity; mass ratios of unesterified cholesterol:cholesteryl ester and phospholipid:cholesteryl ester were similar. Removal of apoA-I from the d > 1.235 g/ml fraction by immunoaffinity chromatography prior to incubation with the d < 1.235 g/ml fraction produced the same products (i.e., HDL2b pattern) as incubations performed with the unaltered d > 1.235 g/ml fraction; therefore, lipid-poor apoA-I does not influence nascent HDL transformation. Cholesteryl ester was transferred from HepG2 HDL to LDL in CM incubations; however, cholesteryl ester transfer protein was not immunochemically identified. Removal of HepG2 LDL from CM prior to incubation with LCAT still resulted in the HDL2b pattern. We conclude that HepG2 cells secrete a factor(s) that modifies nascent HDL transformation products into a predominantly HDL2b subpopulation.

Apolipoprotein A-I↗

Expression of human apolipoprotein A-II and its effect on high density lipoproteins in transgenic mice.

Apolipoproteins A-I and A-II comprise approximately 70 and 20%, respectively, of the total protein content of HDL. Evidence suggests that apoA-I plays a central role in determining the structure and plasma concentration of HDL, while the role of apoA-II is uncertain. To help define the function of apoA-II and determine what effect increasing its plasma concentration has on HDL, transgenic mice expressing human apoA-II and both human apoA-I and human apoA-II were produced. Human apoA-II mRNA is expressed exclusively in the livers of transgenic animals, and the protein exists as a dimer as it does in humans. High level expression of human apoA-II did not increase HDL concentrations or decrease plasma concentrations of murine apoA-I and apoA-II in contrast to what was observed in mice overexpressing human apoA-I. The primary effect of overexpressing human apoA-II was the appearance of small HDL particles composed exclusively of human apoA-II. HDL from mice transgenic for both human apoA-I and human apoA-II displayed a unique size distribution when compared with either apoA-I or apoA-II transgenic mice and contain particles with both these human apolipoproteins. These results in mice, indicating that human apoA-II participates in determining HDL size, parallel results from human studies.

Animals↗

Apolipoprotein B genetic polymorphisms in several human hepatoma derived liver cell lines.

The genetic polymorphism of apoB EcoRI and XbaI restriction sites and the 3' VNTR hypervariable region was examined in nine human hepatoma derived liver cell lines and related to the cells' ability to secrete lipids and apoB. EcoRI and XbaI genotypes appeared to be unrelated to triglyceride, cholesterol and apoB accumulating in the medium. The VNTR consisted of alleles with 47 to 67 repeats; however, these repeats were not associated with elevated concentrations of lipid or apoB. Data suggest that in the hepatoma cell lines, apoB polymorphisms in EcoRI, XbaI and the VNTR hypervariable region are not sufficient in themselves to account for triglyceride, cholesterol and apoB in the medium. It is possible that intracellular apoB synthesis and/or degradation as well as postsecretory apoB binding and uptake are responsible for the variability of apoB and lipid accumulation in the culture medium.

Animals↗

Psyllium husk. I: Effect on plasma lipoproteins, cholesterol metabolism, and atherosclerosis in African green monkeys.

Psyllium's effects on plasma and lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations, cholesterol metabolism, and diet-induced atherosclerosis were studied in adult male African green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). Animals were fed for 3.5 y one of three experimental diets: low-cholesterol cellulose (LCC), high-cholesterol cellulose (HCC), or high-cholesterol psyllium (HCP). The LCC and HCP groups had significantly (P less than 0.05) lower plasma cholesterol concentrations (39% lower) at 1 mo than did the HCC group. These responses persisted throughout the study. Plasma cholesterol changes were due to a reduction in intermediate-density and low-density lipoproteins; very-low and high-density-lipoprotein concentrations were similar among groups. Aortic atherosclerosis, evaluated as percent sudanophilia at 3.5 y, was lowest in the LCC group, intermediate in the HCP group, and highest in the HCC group. Cholesterol absorption, neutral steroid and fat excretion, HMGCoA reductase activity (in intestine and liver), and body weight were unrelated to psyllium's hypocholesterolemic effects.

Animals↗

Psyllium husk. II: Effect on the metabolism of apolipoprotein B in African green monkeys.

Dietary psyllium's ability to reduce low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is presumably mediated by increased LDL catabolism and/or reduced LDL synthesis. To distinguish between these possibilities, apolipoprotein B (apo B) metabolism was studied in adult male African green monkeys consuming one of three semipurified diets: low-cholesterol cellulose (LCC), high-cholesterol cellulose (HCC), or high-cholesterol psyllium (HCP). 131I-labeled LDL and 125I-labeled VLDL were injected simultaneously into animals; blood samples were drawn at selected times and apo B specific activity determined in VLDL, IDL, and LDL. Based on a multicompartmental model, LDL apo B pool size and de novo apo B transport were elevated significantly in HCC animals compared with HCP and LCC animals. Differences in LDL transport, although not significant, paralleled differences observed in LDL apo B pool size. Fractional catabolic rates were similar among groups (HCC 0.040 +/- 0.010; HCP 0.042 +/- 0.009, and LCC 0.043 +/- 0.004 pools/h). These data suggest that dietary psyllium reduces plasma cholesterol concentrations by decreasing LDL synthesis.

Animals↗

Physical and chemical characteristics of apolipoprotein A-I-lipid complexes produced by Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with the human apolipoprotein A-I gene.

Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with the human apolipoprotein A-I gene linked to the human metallothionein gene promoter region secrete large quantities of apolipoprotein A-I (7.1 +/- 0.4% total secreted protein) in the presence of zinc. Approx. 16% of the secreted apolipoprotein A-I is complexed with lipid and can be isolated ultracentrifugally at d less than or equal to 1.21 g/ml. The latter complexes are composed of discs and vesicles as judged by electron microscopy and can be further separated by column chromatography into three fractions: fraction I, mostly vesicles (60-260 nm) and large discs (18-20 nm diameter); fraction II, discs 14.2 +/- 2.6 nm diameter; and fraction III, nonresolvable by electron microscopy. The latter fraction is extremely lipid-poor (94% protein, 6% phospholipid); in contrast, the protein, phospholipid and unesterified cholesterol content for the other fractions are 43, 33 and 24%, respectively, for fraction I and 53, 33 and 14%, respectively, for fraction II. Fraction II particles contain three and four apolipoprotein A-Is per particle as determined by protein crosslinking while large structures in fraction I contain primarily six to seven apolipoprotein A-Is per particle. Following incubation with purified lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase, discoidal particles were transformed into apparent spherical particles 12.9 +/- 3.4 nm diameter; this transformation coincided with 19-21% conversion of unesterified cholesterol to esterified cholesterol. The apolipoprotein A-I-lipid complexes isolated from Chinese hamster ovary cell media are similar to nascent HDL found in plasma of lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase-deficient patients and those secreted by the human hepatoma line, Hep G2. The ability of the Chinese hamster ovary cell nascent HDL-like particles to undergo transformation in the presence of purified lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase indicates that they are functional particles.

Animals↗

Unique structural properties of apolipoprotein B in low-density lipoproteins produced by several human hepatoma-derived cell lines.

Previous work has shown that low-density lipoproteins (LDL) secreted by hepatoma-derived cell lines have an unusual composition compared to plasma LDL; rather than cholesteryl ester, the hepatoma cell-secreted LDL have a triacylglycerol core. We have found that they also have an increased negative charge, as judged by agarose electrophoresis. Since apolipoprotein B is a glycoprotein containing carbohydrate chains terminated with negatively charged sialic acid residues, we examined whether increased glycosylation of the apolipoprotein B from three hepatoma cell lines (Hep G2, Hep 3B and Huh 7) might account for the differences in LDL charge. The weight percent carbohydrate for Hep G2, Hep 3B and Huh 7 LDL-protein (1.1 +/- 0.2; 1.7 +/- 0.8; 0.4 +/- 0.1) was found to be extremely low compared with the 2.8-9% range we found for plasma LDL-protein, while the amount of LDL-lipid associated carbohydrate from hepatoma LDL was similar to that we found in plasma LDL. Furthermore, desialation of hepatoma cell-secreted LDL with neuraminidase did not normalize the negative charge to that of neuraminidase-treated plasma LDL. Western blots of thrombin proteolytic fragments indicated that, in addition to the T1-T4 fragments seen in plasma apolipoprotein B, apolipoprotein B of hepatoma-derived LDL produced four to five new fragments (T5-T9), suggesting increased exposure of proteolytic sites. Western blotting of the new fragments with antibodies specific for known apolipoprotein B sequences suggests that many of the new cleavage sites cluster in or near the putative LDL receptor recognition site.

Apolipoproteins B↗

Lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase-induced transformation of HepG2 lipoproteins.

Previous studies with the human hepatoblastoma-derived HepG2 cell line in this laboratory have shown that these cells produce high density lipoproteins (HDL) that are similar to HDL isolated from patients with familial lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) deficiency. Experiments were, therefore, performed to determine whether HepG2 HDL could be transformed into plasma-like particles by incubation with LCAT. Concentrated HepG2 lipoproteins (d less than 1.235 g/ml) were incubated with purified LCAT or lipoprotein-deficient plasma (LPDP) for 4, 12, or 24 h at 37 degrees C. HDL isolated from control samples possessed excess phospholipid and unesterified cholesterol relative to plasma HDL and appeared as a mixed population of small spherical (7.8 +/- 1.3 nm) and larger discoidal particles (17.7 +/- 4.9 nm long axis) by electron microscopy. Nondenaturing gradient gel analysis (GGE) of control HDL showed major peaks banding at 7.4, 10.0, 11.1, 12.2, and 14.7 nm. Following 4-h LCAT and 12-h LPDP incubations, HepG2 HDL were mostly spherical by electron microscopy and showed major peaks at 10.1 and 8.1 nm (LCAT) and 10.0 and 8.4 nm (LPDP) by GGE; the particle size distribution was similar to that of plasma HDL. In addition, the chemical composition of HepG2 HDL at these incubation times approximated that of plasma HDL. Molar increases in HDL cholesteryl ester were accompanied by equimolar decreases in phospholipid and unesterified cholesterol. HepG2 low density lipoproteins (LDL) isolated from control samples showed a prominent protein band at 25.6 nm with GGE. Active LPDP or LCAT incubations resulted in the appearance of additional protein bands at 24.6 and 24.1 nm. No morphological changes were observed with electron microscopy. Chemical analysis indicated that the LDL cholesteryl ester formed was insufficient to account for phospholipid lost, suggesting that LCAT phospholipase activity occurred without concomitant cholesterol esterification.

Adult↗

Isolation and characterization of lipoproteins produced by human hepatoma-derived cell lines other than HepG2.

A total of six established human hepatoma-derived cell lines, including Hep3B, NPLC/PRF/5 (NPLC), Tong/HCC, Hep 10, huH1, and huH2, were screened for their ability to accumulate significant quantities of lipoproteins in serum-free medium. Only two cell lines, Hep3B and NPLC, secreted quantitatively significant amounts of lipoproteins. In a 24-h period the accumulated mass of apolipoproteins (apo) A-I, A-II, B, and E and albumin for Hep3B cells was 1.96, 1.01, 1.96, 1.90, and 53.2 micrograms/mg cell protein per 24 h, respectively. NPLC cells secreted no detectable albumin but the 24-h accumulated mass for apolipoproteins A-I, A-II, B, and E was 0.45, 0.05, 0.32, and 0.68 micrograms/mg cell protein per 24 h, respectively. Twenty four-hour serum-free medium of Hep3B cells contained lipoproteins corresponding to the three major density classes of plasma; percent protein distribution among the lipoprotein classes was 4%, 41%, and 56% for very low density lipoprotein ("VLDL"), low density lipoprotein ("LDL"), and high density lipoprotein ("HDL"), respectively. NPLC was unusual since most of the lipoprotein mass was in the d 1.063-1.235 g/ml range. Hep3B "LDL", compared with plasma LDL, contained elevated triglyceride, phospholipid, and free cholesterol. Nondenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed that Hep3B "LDL" possessed a major component at 25.5 nm and a minor one at 18.3 nm. Immunoblots showed that the former contained only apoB while the latter possessed only apoE. Like plasma VLDL, Hep3B "VLDL" particles (30.5 nm diameter) isolated from serum-free medium contained apoB, apoC, and apoE. "HDL" harvested from Hep3B and NPLC medium were enriched in phospholipid and free cholesterol and poor cholesteryl ester which is similar to the composition of HepG2 "HDL." "HDL" from Hep3B and NPLC culture medium on gradient gel electrophoresis had peaks at 7.5, 10, and 11.9 nm which were comparable to major components found in HepG2 cell medium. Hep3B cells, in addition, possessed a particle that banded at 8.2 nm which appeared to be an apoA-II without apoA-I particle by Western blot analysis. The cell line also produced a subpopulation of larger-sized "HDL" not found in HepG2 medium. NPLC "HDL" had a distinct peak at 8.3 nm which by Western blot was an apoE-only particle. Electron microscopy revealed that "HDL" harvested from Hep3B and NPLC medium consisted of discoidal and small, spherical particles like those of HepG2. The "HDL" apolipoprotein content of each cell line was distinct from that of HepG2. ApoA-II at 35% of apolipoprotein distinguishes Hep3B "HDL" from HepG2, which contains only 10%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Apolipoprotein A-I↗

Heterogeneity of nascent high density lipoproteins secreted by the hepatoma-derived cell line, Hep G2.

Nondenaturing gradient gel analysis of high density lipoproteins (HDL, d 1.063-1.235 g/ml) isolated from Hep G2 24-hr, serum-free conditioned media shows four distinct, reproducible particle subclasses I, II, III, and IV with apparent Stokes' diameters of 13.3, 12.0, 9.5, and 7.4 nm, respectively. Fractions enriched in lipoproteins from each of these subclasses were isolated by either density gradient ultracentrifugation or gel filtration chromatography and characterized. Size and morphology of the isolated subclasses agreed well regardless of isolation procedure. Electron microscopy revealed subclasses I, II, and III to be disc-shaped, and subclass IV to be spherical. The discoidal subclasses were poor in cholesteryl ester and rich in phospholipid and unesterified cholesterol. The larger-sized subclass I particles were enriched in apolipoprotein (apo) E while subclasses II and III had decreasing amounts of apoE and increasing amounts of apoA-I and A-II. The spherical subclass IV particles contained a higher percentage of protein and had a higher ratio of cholesteryl ester to unesterified cholesterol than that found in the other subclasses. Subclass IV contained predominantly apoA-I. The subclasses isolated from Hep G2 HDL appear to share many similarities with those isolated from patients with lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency and are therefore potentially useful in examining the transformation of nascent HDL particles to mature circulating plasma forms.

Blotting, Western↗