Mechanism of secretion of biliary lipids. I. Role of bile canalicular and microsomal membranes in the synthesis and transport of biliary lecithin and cholesterol.

The role of bile canalicular and microsomal membranes in the synthesis and transport of biliary lipids was investigated by using the isolated perfused rat liver model. Labeled lecithin precursors ((3H)-palmitic acid, (14C)linoleic acid, (3H)choline, and 32PO4) and a cholesterol precursor ((3H)mevalonic acid) were administered with and without sodium taurocholate. The incorporation pattern of these labeled precursors into linoleyl and arachidonyl lecithins and cholesterol fractions of microsomes, bile canaliculi, and bile were examined at 30-min intervals up to 90 min. Marker enzymes and electron microscopy indicated that isolated subfractions of plasma membranes were enriched with bile canaliculi (less than 10 percent microsomal contamination). Taurocholate significantly stimulated the incorporation of 32PO4, (3H)choline, (3H)palmitic acid, and (14C)linoleic acid into linoleyl and arachidonyl lecithin with parallel incorporation curves for microsomal and bile canalicular membranes throughout the 90-min study period. During the 30-60-min period, however, these same lecithin fractions in bile significantly exceeded the specific activity of the membrane lecithins. The enzyme CDP-choline diglyceride transferase was virtually absent from canaliculi relative to microsomes, indicating that canaliculi lack the capacity for de novo lecithin synthesis. Incorporation of (3H)mevalonic acid into membranous and biliary cholesterol followed a pattern similar to that for lecithin. These data provide evidence that (a) biliary lecithin and cholesterol are derived from a microsomal subpool regulated by the flux of enterohepatic bile acids, (b) the role of the bile canalicular membranes with respect to biliary lipids is primarily transport rather than synthesis, and (c) lecithin and cholesterol are transported together from microsomes to bile. The findings are consistent with the existence of a cytoplasmic lipid complex within the hepatocyte which is actively involved in the intermembrane transport of biliary lipid.