To study the mechanisms of hepatic HDL formation, we investigated the roles of ABCA1, ABCG1, and SR-BI in nascent HDL formation in primary hepatocytes isolated from mice deficient in ABCA1, ABCG1, or SR-BI and from wild-type (WT) mice. Under basal conditions, in WT hepatocytes, cholesterol efflux to exogenous apoA-I was accompanied by conversion of apoA-I to HDL-sized particles. LXR activation ...

OBJECTIVE Reconstituted high-density lipoprotein (rHDL) is of interest as a potential novel therapy for atherosclerosis because of its ability to promote free cholesterol (FC) mobilization after intravenous administration. We performed studies to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms by which rHDL promote FC mobilization from whole body in vivo and macrophages in vitro. METHODS AND RES...

Hepatic cholesterol(ester) uptake from serum coupled to intracellular processing and biliary excretion are important features in the removal of excess cholesterol from the body. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters play an important role in hepatic cholesterol transport. The liver consists of different cell types, and ABC transporters may exert different physiological functions dependent on ...

BACKGROUND Epigenetic mechanisms might be involved in the regulation of interindividual lipid level variability and thus may contribute to the cardiovascular risk profile. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between genome-wide DNA methylation and blood lipid levels high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and total cholester...

We previously reported that cholesterol-enriched macrophages excrete cholesterol into the extracellular matrix. A monoclonal antibody that detects cholesterol microdomains labels the deposited extracellular particles. Macro-phage deposition of extracellular cholesterol depends, in part, on ABCG1, and this cholesterol can be mobilized by HDL components of the reverse cholesterol transport proces...

The gene that codes for the ABC transporter ABCG1 is located in a chromosomal susceptibility region (21q22.3) for affective disorders. Genetic variations in ABCG1 have been associated with affective disorders in Japanese males. In this study, we investigated the distribution of a G2457A polymorphism in patients with affective disorders, suicide attempters with various psychiatric diagnoses and ...

OBJECTIVE Liver X receptor (LXR) activators decrease atherosclerosis in mice. LXR activators (1) directly upregulate genes involved in reverse cholesterol transport and (2) exert anti-inflammatory effects mediated by transrepression of nuclear factor-κB target genes. We investigated whether myeloid cell deficiency of ATP-binding cassette transporters A1 and G1 (ABCA1/G1), principal targets of L...

Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLAs) are minor components of the diet with many reported biological activities. Our aim was to examine the function of the single trans-9,trans-11 (t9,t11), cis-9,trans-11 (c9,t11), and trans-10,cis-12 (t10,c12) isomers on gene expression in human macrophages. Therefore we incubated in vitro MCSF differentiated monocyte derived macrophages from three healthy donors a...

Possible mechanisms for the cholesterol-lowering effects of plant stanol esters were addressed by feeding hamsters diets containing stanol esters, cholesterol, or cholestyramine/lovastatin. ABCA1, ATP binding cassette G1 (ABCG1), ABCG5, ABCG8, and Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 (NPC1L1) mRNA levels were then estimated in duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Plasma cholesterol was decreased by 36% and 94% in a...