The effect of low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol on steroid hormone production and ACTH-induced differentiation of rat adrenocortical cells in primary culture.

We studied the effects of lipoprotein-derived cholesterol on the ACTH-induced differentiation of cultured fetal rat adrenocortical cells. For this purpose human plasma high-density lipoprotein3 (HDL3) or low-density lipoprotein (LDL) was added to culture media devoid of cholesterol, and thereafter the morphological changes in cells were monitored and the amounts of steroids synthesized were measured. It could be demonstrated that, ultrastructurally, upon ACTH-stimulation the adrenocortical cells differentiated into fasciculata-like cells even in the absence of lipoproteins in the culture medium. The addition of either HDL3 or LDL caused an increase in the number and size of cytoplasmic lipid droplets suggesting uptake and deposition of lipoprotein-derived cholesterol into the differentiating cells. The amount of steroids secreted from cells differentiating in media devoid of cholesterol was only half that observed in cells differentiating in serum-supplemented medium. Addition of either HDL3 or LDL increased the ACTH-stimulated steroid synthesis to the levels observed in serum-supplemented medium. This study demonstrates that both HDL3 and LDL are able to provide cholesterol for steroid synthesis accompanying the ACTH-induced differentiation of fetal rat adrenocortical cells.