Ligand-dependent interactions between SR-B1 and S1PR1 in macrophages and atherosclerotic plaques.

HDLs carry sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and stimulate signaling pathways in different cells including macrophages and endothelial cells, involved in atherosclerotic plaque development. HDL signaling via S1P relies on the HDL receptor scavenger receptor class B, type I (SR-B1) and the sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1PR1), which interact when both are heterologously overexpressed in the HEK293 cell line. In this study, we set out to test if SR-B1 and S1PR1 interacted in primary murine macrophages in culture and atherosclerotic plaques. We used knock-in mice that endogenously expressed S1PR1 tagged with eGFP-(S1pr1eGFP/eGFP mice), combined with proximity ligation analysis to demonstrate that HDL stimulates the physical interaction between SR-B1 and S1PR1 in primary macrophages, that this is dependent on HDL-associated S1P and can be blocked by an inhibitor of SR-B1's lipid transfer activity or an antagonist of S1PR1. We also demonstrate that a synthetic S1PR1-selective agonist, SEW2871, stimulates the interaction between SR-B1 and S1PR1 and that this was also blocked by an inhibitor of SR-B1's lipid transport activity. Furthermore, we detected abundant SR-B1/S1PR1 complexes in atherosclerotic plaques of S1pr1eGFP/eGFP mice that also lacked apolipoprotein E. Treatment of mice with the S1PR1 antagonist, Ex26, for 12 h disrupted the SR-B1-S1PR1 interaction in atherosclerotic plaques. These findings demonstrate that SR-B1 and S1PR1 form ligand-dependent complexes both in cultured primary macrophages and within atherosclerotic plaques in mice and provide mechanistic insight into how SR-B1 and S1PR1 participate in mediating HDL signaling to activate atheroprotective responses in macrophages.

Cholesterol efflux from THP-1 macrophages is impaired by the fatty acid component from lipoprotein hydrolysis by lipoprotein lipase.

Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is an extracellular lipase that primarily hydrolyzes triglycerides within circulating lipoproteins. Macrophage LPL contributes to atherogenesis, but the mechanisms behind it are poorly understood. We hypothesized that the products of lipoprotein hydrolysis generated by LPL promote atherogenesis by inhibiting the cholesterol efflux ability by macrophages. To test this hypothesis, we treated human THP-1 macrophages with total lipoproteins that were hydrolyzed by LPL and we found significantly reduced transcript levels for the cholesterol transporters ATP binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1), ABCG1, and scavenger receptor BI. These decreases were likely due to significant reductions for the nuclear receptors liver-X-receptor-α, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)-α, and PPAR-γ. We prepared a mixture of free fatty acids (FFA) that represented the ratios of FFA species within lipoprotein hydrolysis products, and we found that the FFA mixture also significantly reduced cholesterol transporters and nuclear receptors. Finally, we tested the efflux of cholesterol from THP-1 macrophages to apolipoprotein A-I, and we found that the treatment of THP-1 macrophages with the FFA mixture significantly attenuated cholesterol efflux. Overall, these data show that the FFA component of lipoprotein hydrolysis products generated by LPL may promote atherogenesis by inhibiting cholesterol efflux, which partially explains the pro-atherogenic role of macrophage LPL.

Transcriptomic Analysis of THP-1 Macrophages Exposed to Lipoprotein Hydrolysis Products Generated by Lipoprotein Lipase.

Macrophage lipoprotein lipase (LPL) induces lipid accumulation and promotes atherosclerosis. However, the effects of lipoprotein hydrolysis products generated by LPL on macrophage-derived foam cell formation are not clearly understood. Thus, we analyzed the transcriptomic response to hydrolysis products via microarray analyses on RNA isolated from human THP-1 macrophages incubated with total lipoprotein hydrolysis products generated by LPL. The expression of 183 transcripts was significantly upregulated and 133 transcripts were significantly downregulated. Bioinformatics analyses revealed that there was a significant over-representation of genes involved in cell cycling, stress response, type I interferon signaling, cellular metal ion homeostasis, sterol metabolism, and nuclease activity. Interestingly, transcripts for 63 small nucleolar RNA were significantly upregulated. We verified the microarray data by quantitative real-time PCR and found that the expression of SNORA56, as well as the expression of genes associated with the cell cycle (PCNA and DKC1 variant 3), stress response (ATF3), type I interferon signaling (IFITM1), and lipid metabolism (CD36 and PLIN2) were significantly affected by LPL hydrolysis products. To determine if the free fatty acid (FFA) component of total lipoprotein hydrolysis products is sufficient to alter the expression of these genes, THP-1 macrophages were also incubated with the total FFA or individual classes of the FFA component. The gene regulation by the FFA component did not mimic that of the hydrolysis products, suggesting that the regulation of gene expression in THP-1 macrophages depends on the specific combination and concentration of lipid species present in the hydrolysis products, and not solely on FFA.