Chylomicron remnants and oxidised low density lipoprotein have differential effects on the expression of mRNA for genes involved in human macrophage foam cell formation.

The effects of chylomicron remnants (non-oxidised or oxidised) and oxidised low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) on the expression of mRNA for a wide range of genes believed to play a role in macrophage foam cell formation were compared using macrophages derived from the human monocyte cell line THP-1. Chylomicron remnant-like particles (CMR-LPs), oxidised CMR-LPs (oxCMR-LPs) and oxLDL were incubated with THP-1 macrophages, and the relative abundance of mRNA transcripts for genes involved in lipoprotein uptake, intracellular lipid metabolism, transport and storage and cholesterol efflux from macrophages was determined. The results show that CMR-LPs and oxLDL differ markedly in their effects on the expression of mRNA for a number of the genes tested. OxLDL increased mRNA levels for the scavenger receptors CD36 (x3.2) and lectin-like oxLDL receptor 1 (x2.1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma while CMR-LPs did not. In contrast, the expression of mRNA for the LDL receptor-like protein was raised by CMR-LPs (x1.8) but not oxLDL. Furthermore, down-regulation of mRNA levels for the ATP-binding cassette transporter (ABC) A1 was observed with CMR-LPs (x0.6), compared to the up-regulation found with oxLDL (x4.4). In addition, a number of significant differences were found between the effects of CMR-LPs and oxCMR-LPs, with the oxidised particles causing a striking rise in mRNA expression for the multi-drug resistance 1 gene (x13.7), but otherwise showing pattern more similar to that seen with oxLDL. These findings provide evidence to indicate that chylomicron remnants cause lipid accumulation in macrophages by influencing the expression of genes which regulate lipid metabolism at the transcriptional level, and that the mechanisms involved differ in important respects from those triggered by oxLDL.