Abstract
To unravel the conflicting data concerning the dependence of human cholesterol biosynthesis on functional peroxisomes, we determined activities and levels of selected enzymes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis in livers of PEX5 knockout mice, a well-characterized model for human Zellweger syndrome. We found that all enzymes measured, including putative peroxisomal enzymes, are at least as active in the peroxisome-deficient Zellweger mice as in control mice, indicating that mislocalization of enzymes to the cytosol does not lead to decreased activity or degradation. Prompted by these results, we re-examined this aspect in human subjects by specific enzyme activity measurements and immunoblotting with highly specific antisera. Our results show that the previously reported deficiencies of mevalonate kinase and phosphomevalonate kinase activity in livers from human Zellweger patients reflect the bad condition of the livers, rather than mislocalization to the cytosol. Our data provide an explanation for the conflicting findings in the literature and show that great care should be taken in the interpretation of data obtained in postmortem material.
Highlights
To unravel the conflicting data concerning the dependence of human cholesterol biosynthesis on functional peroxisomes, we determined activities and levels of selected enzymes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis in livers of PEX5 knockout mice, a well-characterized model for human Zellweger syndrome
To examine the effect of peroxisome deficiency on the activities of enzymes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis, we measured the activities of several enzymes involved in the presqualene segment (RED, mevalonate kinase (MVK), phosphomevalonate kinase (PMK), mevalonate pyrophosphate decarboxylase (MPD), and isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase (IPPI)) and one enzyme (DHCR7) in the postsqualene segment of the isoprenoid/cholesterol biosynthesis pathway in liver homogenates of PEX5 knockout and control mice
Similar or slightly increased activities were found for MVK, PMK, MPD, and ⌬7-sterol reductase (DHCR7) in cerebro-hepato-renal syndrome of Zellweger (ZS) mouse liver samples when compared with control mouse livers (Table 1)
Summary
To unravel the conflicting data concerning the dependence of human cholesterol biosynthesis on functional peroxisomes, we determined activities and levels of selected enzymes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis in livers of PEX5 knockout mice, a well-characterized model for human Zellweger syndrome. We found that all enzymes measured, including putative peroxisomal enzymes, are at least as active in the peroxisome-deficient Zellweger mice as in control mice, indicating that mislocalization of enzymes to the cytosol does not lead to decreased activity or degradation. Prompted by these results, we re-examined this aspect in human subjects by specific enzyme activity measurements and immunoblotting with highly specific antisera. Absence of functional peroxisomes does not lead to deficiency of enzymes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.