title: Oxysterol regulators of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase in liver. Effect of dietary cholesterol.
abstract: Hepatic regulatory oxysterols were analyzed to determine which oxysterols were present in livers of mice fed a cholesterol-free diet and whether repression of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase following cholesterol feeding was accompanied by an increase in one or more oxysterols. Analysis of free and esterified sterols from mice fed a cholesterol-free diet resulted in the identification and quantitation of six regulatory oxysterols: 24-hydroxycholesterol, 25-hydroxycholesterol, 26-hydroxycholesterol, 7 alpha-hydroxycholesterol, 7 beta-hydroxycholesterol, and 7-ketocholesterol. Following the addition of cholesterol to the diet for 1 or 2 nights, hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase activity declined and the levels of oxysterols, especially those of the side-chain-hydroxylated sterols, increased. Total 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase repressor units attributable to identified free oxysterols increased 2.5- and 6-fold after 1 and 2 nights, respectively, of cholesterol feeding. The amounts of esterified 24-, 25-, and 26-hydroxycholesterol also increased, with the increase in esterified 24-hydroxycholesterol being the greatest. The 24-hydroxycholesterol was predominantly the 24S epimer and the 26-hydroxycholesterol was predominantly the 25R epimer, indicating enzymatic catalysis of their formation. The observed correlation between increased levels of regulatory oxysterols and repression of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase in cholesterol-fed mice is consistent with a hypothesis that intracellular oxysterol metabolites regulate the level of the reductase.
authors.affiliation: Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Saucier
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kandutsch
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Gayen
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Swahn
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Spencer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000502:physiology*; D002845:Chromatography; D004794:Enzyme Repression; D006888:Hydroxycholesterols / Q000502:physiology*; D006903:Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology*; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H
chemical_list: D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D006888:Hydroxycholesterols; D006903:Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases