Increase in neutral cholesteryl ester hydrolase activity produced by extralysosomal hydrolysis of high-density lipoprotein cholesteryl esters in rat hepatoma cells (H-35).

The metabolism of high-density lipoprotein-associated cholesteryl esters (HDL-CE) in liver cells is not well understood. We studied the possible role of lysosomal and extralysosomal pathways on such metabolism by measuring the uptake and hydrolysis of HDL-CE in H-35 rat hepatoma cells. Incubation of cells with [3H]cholesteryl ester-labeled HDL led to the intracellular accumulation of both 3H-free cholesterol and [3H]cholesteryl ester. The ratio of 3H-free cholesterol/[3H]cholesteryl ester increased with an increase in incubation time even in the presence of chloroquine. Because chloroquine did not inhibit the conversion of cholesteryl ester to free cholesterol, the hydrolysis of HDL-CE may have been catalyzed by an extralysosomal enzyme, perhaps by neutral cholesteryl ester hydrolase (NCEH). When we incubated cells with increasing concentrations of HDL, NCEH activity increased. This increase in enzyme activity was not inhibited by the addition of chloroquine. A complex of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC)/apo HDL/cholesteryl ester enhanced the activity as well as native HDL. Neither the DMPC/apo HDL nor the DMPC/cholesteryl ester complex affected the activity, suggesting that apo HDL may be required for the uptake of HDL-CE. The present study demonstrated that the extralysosomal hydrolysis by NCEH is operating in the metabolism of HDL-CE in hepatoma cells.