Determinants of the uptake of very low density lipoprotein remnants by the perfused rat liver.

The receptor-mediated uptake of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) remnants by the rat liver was studied. Livers were perfused with native 125I-VLDL remnants, radiolabeled apo E-deficient remnants, and radiolabeled remnants that contained reductively methylated apo B and unmodified apo E. The specific uptake of the apo E-deficient remnants was 20% of that for the native remnants, whereas the specific uptake of the remnants containing unreactive apo B was 78% of the control value. This suggests that the apo E of VLDL remnants is the principal ligand for binding to the receptor, and in the absence of apo E, apo B may participate in binding. This conclusion is supported by the finding that dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC)- apo E complexes were effective in competing for the hepatic uptake of 125I-VLDL remnants. The intracellular distribution of radioactivity was analyzed by Percoll density gradient centrifugation. At five minutes after perfusion, radioactivity was associated with the plasma membrane and lysosomal fractions, and at 30 minutes most of the radioactivity was associated with the lysosomal fraction. Binding and internalization of VLDL remnants was also directly visualized by electron microscopy. Internalization proceeded by coated pit-coated vesicle formation with subsequent delivery to lysosomes. Our findings demonstrate that the apo E of VLDL remnants mediates binding to the hepatic receptor and that the internalization and degradation of VLDL remnants is by a similar pathway to that previously described for LDL.