title: Changes in sterol biosynthesis accompanying cessation of glial cell growth in serum-free medium.
abstract: C-6 glioma cells, grown in medium supplemented with 5% delipidated foetal calf serum, were induced to enter a quiescent state by removing serum from the medium. Within 24h there was a 75-80% decline in the rate of incorporation of [(14)C]acetate or (3)H(2)O into digitonin-precipitable sterols. Experiments with [(3)H]mevalonolactone as a labelled sterol precursor suggested that the decline in sterol synthesis was regulated primarily at a point in the pathway before the formation of mevalonate. The specific activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase decreased sharply in conjunction with the decline in sterol synthesis in the serum-free cultures; however, the activity of acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase was altered only slightly. The magnitude of the initial decline in reductase activity was not affected when 50-mm-NaF was included in the preincubation and assay buffers to prevent activation of physiologically inactive enzyme. However, after 6h of serum deprivation the decline in 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase activity was due to a decrease in the amount of latent activity. The sterol concentration in C-6 cells was unchanged after 24h in serum-free medium, although a 20% decrease in the sterol/fatty acid molar ratio occurred as a result of a small increase in the fatty-acid concentration. Incorporation of (3)H(2)O into fatty acids was inhibited in the serum-deprived glial cells; however, this inhibition developed more slowly and was not as pronounced as the diminution in sterol synthesis. The results suggest that in C-6 glia, which resemble the glial stem cells of the developing brain, the decreased demand for membrane sterols in the quiescent state results in a decline in sterol synthesis, mediated primarily through co-ordinate changes in the activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase.
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D001769:Blood; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003470:Culture Media; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005910:Glioma / Q000473:pathology; D007783:Lactones / Q000378:metabolism; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013261:Sterols / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D003470:Culture Media; D005227:Fatty Acids; D007783:Lactones; D013261:Sterols