Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) catalyzes the first committed step in triacylglycerol (TAG) and phospholipid biosynthesis. GPAT activity has been identified in both ER and mitochondrial subcellular fractions. The ER activity dominates in most tissues except in liver, where the mitochondrial isoform (mtGPAT) can constitute up to 50% of the total activity. To study the in vivo effects of hepatic mtGPAT overexpression, mice were transduced with adenoviruses expressing either murine mtGPAT or a catalytically inactive variant of the enzyme. Overexpressing mtGPAT resulted in massive 12- and 7-fold accumulation of liver TAG and diacylglycerol, respectively but had no effect on phospholipid or cholesterol ester content. Histological analysis showed extensive lipid accumulation in hepatocytes. Furthermore, mtGPAT transduction markedly increased adipocyte differentiation-related protein and stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD-1) in the liver. In line with increased SCD-1 expression, 18:1 and 16:1 in the hepatic TAG fraction increased. In addition, mtGPAT overexpression decreased ex vivo fatty acid oxidation, increased liver TAG secretion rate 2-fold, and increased plasma TAG and cholesterol levels. These results support the hypothesis that increased hepatic mtGPAT activity associated with obesity and insulin resistance contributes to increased TAG biosynthesis and inhibition of fatty acid oxidation, responses that would promote hepatic steatosis and dyslipidemia.

The exchangeable apolipoproteins present in small, dense LDL (sdLDL) and large, buoyant LDL subclasses were evaluated with a quantitative proteomic approach in patients with the metabolic syndrome and with type 2 diabetes, both with subclinical atherosclerosis and the B LDL phenotype. The analyses included surface-enhanced laser adsorption/ionization, time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and subsequent identification by mass spectrometry or immunoblotting and were carried out in LDL subclasses isolated by ultracentrifugation in deuterium oxide gradients with near physiological salt concentrations. The sdLDLs of both types of patients were enriched in apolipoprotein C-III (apoC-III) and were depleted of apoC-I, apoA-I, and apoE compared with matched healthy controls with the A phenotype. The LDL complexes formed in serum from patients with diabetes with the arterial proteoglycan (PG) versican were also enriched in apoC-III. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the apoC-III content in sdLDL in patients and the apparent affinity of their LDLs for arterial versican.The unique distribution of exchangeable apolipoproteins in the sdLDLs of the patients studied, especially high apoC-III, coupled with the augmented affinity with arterial PGs, may contribute to the strong association of the dyslipidemia of insulin resistance with increased risk for cardiovascular disease. -Davidsson, P., J. Hulthe, B. Fagerberg, B-M. Olsson, C. Hallberg, B. Dahllöf, and G. Camejo. A proteomic study of the apolipoproteins in LDL subclasses in patients with the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

Objective-To study the distribution of group V secretory phospholipase A 2 (sPLA 2 ) in human and mouse lesions and compare its expression by human vascular cells, its activity toward lipoproteins, and the interaction with arterial proteoglycans (proteoglycans) with those of sPLA 2 -IIA. In addition, we also investigated the effect of a Western diet and lipopolysaccharide challenge on the aortic expression of these enzymes in mouse models. Methods and Results-Immunohistochemistry showed sPLA 2 -V in human and mouse lesions to be associated with smooth muscle cells and also surrounding foam cells in lipid core areas. mRNA of the enzyme was expressed in human lesions and human vascular cells, supporting the immunohistochemistry data. sPLA 2 -V but not sPLA 2 -IIA was active on lipoproteins in human serum. The association with proteoglycans enhanced 2-to 3-fold sPLA 2 -V activity toward low-density lipoproteins but not that of the group IIA enzyme. Experiments in mouse models showed that treatment with a Western diet induced expression of sPLA 2 -V but not that of sPLA 2 -IIA in aorta. On the other hand, lipopolysaccharide-induced acute inflammation augmented the expression of sPLA 2 -IIA but not that of sPLA 2 -V. Key Words: phospholipase Ⅲ atherogenesis Ⅲ inflammation Ⅲ lipoprotein-retention Ⅲ proteoglycans D uring atherosclerosis development, there is a progressive decrease of the lesion phospholipid content and enrichment in cholesterol. 1 Furthermore, apolipoprotein B (apoB) lipoproteins isolated from human and rabbit lesions contain less phosphatidylcholine (PC) and more sphingomyelin than circulating lipoproteins. 2,3 Therefore, lipoproteins trapped in the intima appear to be hydrolyzed by secretory phospholipases. 4 These enzymes may contribute to atherosclerosis by hydrolysis of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) phospholipids that induce fusion and increase binding of cholesterol-rich particles to intima proteoglycans, triggering further modifications. [5][6][7][8] In addition, phospholipase(s) A 2 contribute to local release of lyso-phospholipids and nonesterified fatty acids, which have proinflammatory properties in arterial cells. 9 -12 Conclusions-These See page 1421Secretory phospholipase A 2 (sPLA 2 ) group IIA is present in human atherosclerotic lesions, and experimental and clinical evidence suggest its involvement in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. 13-17 sPLA 2 -IIA and the more recently cloned sPLA 2 -V are members of a family of enzymes that hydrolyze the fatty acids at the sn-2 position of glycerophospholipids. Both enzymes have low molecular weight (14 kDa), are histidine and calcium dependent, rich in disulfide bonds, are basic, and share structure similarities. 18 Several of these properties stabilize and enhance their activity in the extracellular milieu. The genes of sPLA 2 -IIA and sPLA 2 -V enzymes are located at close positions in homologous regions in mouse chromosome 4 and human chromosome 1 and share the same promoter. 19 This region was identified as an atherosclerosis ...

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