An extrahepatic receptor-associated protein-sensitive mechanism is involved in the metabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins

Bart J M Van Vlijmen, Astrid Rohlmann, Shallee T. Page, André Bensadoun, I. Sophie T Bos, Theo J C Van Berkel, Louis M. Havekes, Joachim Herz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have used adenovirus-mediated gene transfer in mice to investigate low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and LDLR-related protein (LRP)- independent mechanisms that control the metabolism of chylomicron and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) remnants in vivo. Overexpression of receptor- associated protein (RAP) in mice that lack both LRP and LDLR (MX1cre+LRP(flox/flox)LDLR(-/-)) in their livers elicited a marked hypertriglyceridemia in addition to the pre-existing hypercholesterolemia in these animals, resulting in a shift in the distribution of plasma lipids from LDL-sized lipoproteins to large VLDL-sized particles. This dramatic increase in plasma lipids was not due to a RAP-mediated inhibition of a unknown hepatic high affinity binding site involved in lipoprotein metabolism, because no RAP binding could be detected in livers of MX1cre+LRP(flox/flox)LDLR(-/-) mice using both membrane binding studies and ligand blotting experiments. Remarkably, RAP overexpression also resulted in a 7-fold increase (from 13.6 to 95.6 ng/ml) of circulating, but largely inactive, lipoprotein lipase (LPL). In contrast, plasma hepatic lipase levels and activity were unaffected. In vitro studies showed that RAP binds to LPL with high affinity (K(d) = 5 nM) but does not affect its catalytic activity, in vitro or in vivo. Our findings suggest that an extrahepatic RAP-sensitive process that is independent of the LDLR or LRP is involved in metabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins. There, RAP may affect the functional maturation of LPL, thus causing the accumulation of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in the circulation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)35219-35226
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume274
Issue number49
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 3 1999

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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