The present study demonstrates that two different forms of the intracellular cholesterol esterification enzyme acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) are present in the nonhuman primate hepatocyte; one is similar to that originally cloned from human genomic DNA, here termed ACAT1, while a second gene product, termed ACAT2, is reported here. The primate ACAT2 gene product was cloned from an African green monkey liver cDNA library. Sequence analysis of an isolated, full-length clone of ACAT2 cDNA identified an open reading frame encoding a 526-amino acid protein with essentially no sequence similarity to the ACAT1 cDNA over the N-terminal 101 amino acids but with 57% identity predicted over the remaining 425 amino acids. Transfection of the cloned ACAT2 cDNA into two different mammalian cell types resulted in the production of abundant ACAT activity which was sensitive to ACAT inhibitors. Northern blot analysis showed that the ACAT2 mRNA was expressed primarily in liver and intestine in monkeys. In contrast, ACAT1 mRNA was expressed in almost all tissues examined. Topologic predictions from the amino acid sequence of ACAT2 indicates that it has seven trans-membrane domains in a configuration that places the putative active site of the enzyme in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum. This orientation of ACAT2 in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, in addition to its expression only in liver and intestine, suggests that this enzyme may have as a primary function, the secretion of cholesteryl esters into apoB-containing lipoproteins.The intracellular formation of cholesteryl esters catalyzed by the action of the enzyme acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT; EC 2.3.1.26) 1 appears to be nearly ubiqitous in mammalian cells (1). Elucidation of the details of the structure and catalytic mechanism of ACAT and of the regulation of its activity have been stymied by the difficulty in isolating and purifying an active form of this membrane-associated enzyme. It has taken the isolation of a cDNA for ACAT from human genomic DNA, accomplished through functional complementation of mutant Chinese hamster ovary cells lacking ACAT activity, to initiate progress in understanding the biochemistry of ACAT function (2). The mRNA for this ACAT is expressed in most human tissues and cDNAs with nearly identical ACAT sequences have likewise been found in a variety of tissues from mouse, hamster, and rabbit (3-5).Several functions can be attributed to cholesterol esterification by ACAT. The enzyme appears to modulate the potentially toxic effects of cholesterol in cell membranes. By attaching a fatty acid to the free hydroxyl group of cholesterol, physical properties of the cholesterol molecule are changed and the solubility of esterified cholesterol in the lipids of the cell membrane is limited. Cholesteryl esters accumulate in lipid droplets in the cytoplasm, and maintenance of a balance between the free and esterified forms of cholesterol in a cell is believed to be a component of regulation of cholesterol signaling pathways (6...