The enhancing effect of adrenocorticotropin on adrenal 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase messenger ribonucleic acid level is inhibited by aminoglutethimide but not by cycloheximide.

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme-A (HMG-CoA) reductase activity and reductase mRNA level were determined in adrenals from hamsters treated with ACTH, with or without cycloheximide or aminoglutethimide. Both reductase activity and reductase mRNA level were similarly enhanced by ACTH administration compared to levels in NaCl-treated animals. The administration of cycloheximide with ACTH resulted in a 73% decrease in reductase activity compared to control values, but did not prevent the enhancing effect of ACTH on the reductase mRNA level. Furthermore, the administration of cycloheximide alone diminished HMG-CoA reductase activity, but enhanced by 1.1- to 1.6-fold the reductase mRNA level. Coadministration of aminoglutethimide with ACTH also resulted in a decrease (65%) in reductase activity compared to that in NaCl-treated animals. However, coadministration of aminoglutethimide, in contrast to cycloheximide, with ACTH not only prevented the reductase mRNA level increase produced by ACTH, but also resulted in a 30% decrease in the reductase mRNA level compared to that in controls injected with 0.15 M NaCl. In addition, aminoglutethimide alone resulted in 50% and 54% decreases in reductase mRNA level and reductase activity, respectively. Thus, we have shown that both cycloheximide and aminoglutethimide can prevent the enhancing effect of ACTH on HMG-CoA reductase activity, but their modes of action differ. It is likely that the aminoglutethimide inhibition could be the result of a diminution of specific reductase gene transcription, whereas cycloheximide would result in inhibition of the synthesis of specific proteins, including HMG-CoA reductase. In this respect, since the adrenal free cholesterol content was increased in groups treated with ACTH-aminoglutethimide, we postulate that free cholesterol could be one of the important components involved in the regulation of HMG-CoA reductase gene transcription. As for the ACTH-cycloheximide-treated groups, the adrenal free cholesterol content was also increased, but the effect of ACTH on the reductase mRNA level was not prevented, presumably because this drug blocked the synthesis of a putative sterol regulatory protein that is required to repress HMG-CoA reductase gene transcription.