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Dexamethasone regulates bile acid synthesis in monolayer cultures of rat hepatocytes by induction of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase.

ABSTRACT: To study the effect of steroid hormones on bile acid synthesis by cultured rat hepatocytes, cells were incubated with various amounts of these compounds during 72 h and conversion of [4-14C]cholesterol into bile acids was measured. Bile acid synthesis was stimulated in a dose-dependent way by glucocorticoids, but not by sex steroid hormones, pregnenolone or the mineralocorticoid aldosterone in concentrations up to 10 microM. Dexamethasone proved to be the most efficacious inducer, giving 3-fold and 7-fold increases in bile acid synthesis during the second and third 24 h incubation periods respectively, at a concentration of 50 nM. Mass production of bile acids as measured by g.l.c. during the second day of culture (28-52 h) was 2.2-fold enhanced by 1 microM-dexamethasone. No change in the ratio of bile acids produced was observed during this period in the presence of dexamethasone. Conversion of [4-14C]7 alpha-hydroxycholesterol, an intermediate of the bile acid pathway, to bile acids was not affected by dexamethasone. Measurement of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase activity in homogenates of hepatocytes, incubated with 1 microM-dexamethasone, showed 10-fold and 90-fold increases after 48 and 72 h respectively, as compared with control cells. As with bile acid synthesis from [14C]cholesterol, no change in enzyme activity was found in hepatocytes cultured in the presence of 10 microM steroid hormones other than glucocorticoids. Addition of inhibitors of protein and mRNA synthesis lowered bile acid production and cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase activity and prevented the rise of both parameters with dexamethasone, suggesting regulation at the mRNA level. We conclude that glucocorticoids regulate bile acid synthesis in rat hepatocytes by induction of enzyme activity of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase.

SUBMITTER: Princen HM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1133266 | biostudies-other | 1989 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:We have used primary monolayer cultures of rat hepatocytes to study the effects of physiological concentrations of various bile acids, commonly found in bile of normal rats, on the mechanism of regulation of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase and bile acid synthesis. Addition of taurocholic acid, the most predominant bile acid in rat bile, to the culture medium suppressed cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase activity and mRNA time- and dose-dependently. The decrease in enzyme activity paralleled the changes in mRNA. Maximal suppression of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase mRNA (-91%) and enzyme activity (-89%) was observed after a 16 h incubation period with 50 microM taurocholic acid. The declines in mRNA and enzyme caused by taurocholic acid were tightly coupled and followed first-order kinetics with a half-life of 4 h. Transcriptional activity, as assessed with nuclear run-on assays, was decreased by 44% at 50 microM taurocholic acid. Mass production of bile acids (chenodeoxycholic acid and beta-muricholic acid) was inhibited to a similar extent as the cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase when different concentrations of taurocholic acid were used, giving maximal inhibition (-81%) at 50 microM taurocholic acid. Glycocholic acid and unconjugated cholic acid were equally effective as taurocholic acid in suppressing cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase mRNA. The more hydrophobic bile acids (chenodeoxycholic acid and deoxycholic acid) showed profound suppression of the cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase mRNA by 85% and 75% respectively, whereas the other trihydroxy bile acids in rat bile, alpha- and beta-muricholic acid, were not or only marginally active. We conclude that rat bile acids, in particular the more hydrophobic ones, in concentrations commonly observed in portal blood, exert negative feedback control at the level of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase mRNA in cultured rat hepatocytes through a direct effect on the hepatocytes, and that down-regulation of transcription is only one of the mechanisms involved in this regulation.

Project description:Lipoproteins may supply substrate for the formation of bile acids, and the amount of hepatic cholesterol can regulate bile-acid synthesis and increase cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase expression. However, the effect of lipoprotein cholesterol on sterol 27-hydroxylase expression and the role of different lipoproteins in regulating both enzymes are not well established. We studied the effect of different rabbit lipoproteins on cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase and sterol 27-hydroxylase in cultured rat hepatocytes. beta-Migrating very-low-density lipoprotein (betaVLDL) and intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL) caused a significant increase in the intracellular cholesteryl ester content of cells (2. 3- and 2-fold, respectively) at a concentration of 200 microgram of cholesterol/ml, whereas high-density lipoprotein (HDL, 50% v/v), containing no apolipoprotein E (apo E), showed no effect after a 24-h incubation. betaVLDL and IDL increased bile-acid synthesis (1. 9- and 1.6-fold, respectively) by up-regulation of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase activity (1.7- and 1.5-fold, respectively). Dose- and time-dependent changes in cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase mRNA levels and gene expression underlie the increase in enzyme activity. Incubation of cells with HDL showed no effect. Sterol 27-hydroxylase gene expression was not affected by any of the lipoproteins added. Transient-expression experiments in hepatocytes, transfected with a promoter-reporter construct containing the proximal 348 nucleotides of the rat cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase promoter, showed an enhanced gene transcription (2-fold) with betaVLDL, indicating that a sequence important for a cholesterol-induced transcriptional response is located in this part of the cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase gene. The extent of stimulation of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase is associated with the apo E content of the lipoprotein particle, which is important in the uptake of lipoprotein cholesterol. We conclude that physiological concentrations of cholesterol in apo E-containing lipoproteins increase bile-acid synthesis by stimulating cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase gene transcription, whereas HDL has no effect and sterol 27-hydroxylase is not affected.

Project description:We reported previously that mice overexpressing cytochrome P450 7a1 (Cyp7a1; Cyp7a1-tg mice) are protected against high fat diet-induced hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and insulin resistance. Here, we investigated the underlying mechanism of bile acid signaling in maintaining cholesterol homeostasis in Cyp7a1-tg mice. Cyp7a1-tg mice had two-fold higher Cyp7a1 activity and bile acid pool than did wild-type mice. Gallbladder bile acid composition changed from predominantly cholic acid (57%) in wild-type to chenodeoxycholic acid (54%) in Cyp7a1-tg mice. Cyp7a1-tg mice had higher biliary and fecal cholesterol and bile acid secretion rates than did wild-type mice. Surprisingly, hepatic de novo cholesterol synthesis was markedly induced in Cyp7a1-tg mice but intestine fractional cholesterol absorption in Cyp7a1-tg mice remained the same as wild-type mice despite the presence of increased intestine bile acids. Interestingly, hepatic but not intestinal expression of several cholesterol (adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette G5/G8 [ABCG5/G8], scavenger receptor class B, member 1) and bile acid (ABCB11) transporters were significantly induced in Cyp7a1-tg mice. Treatment of mouse or human hepatocytes with a farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist GW4064 or bile acids induced hepatic Abcg5/g8 expression. A functional FXR binding site was identified in the Abcg5 gene promoter. Study of tissue-specific Fxr knockout mice demonstrated that loss of the Fxr gene in the liver attenuated bile acid induction of hepatic Abcg5/g8 and gallbladder cholesterol content, suggesting a role of FXR in the regulation of cholesterol transport.This study revealed a new mechanism by which increased Cyp7a1 activity expands the hydrophobic bile acid pool, stimulating hepatic cholesterol synthesis and biliary cholesterol secretion without increasing intestinal cholesterol absorption. This study demonstrated that Cyp7a1 plays a critical role in maintaining cholesterol homeostasis and underscores the importance of bile acid signaling in regulating overall cholesterol homeostasis.

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Dexamethasone regulates bile acid synthesis in monolayer cultures of rat hepatocytes by induction of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase.

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