Sirolimus inhibits endogenous cholesterol synthesis induced by inflammatory stress in human vascular smooth muscle cells.

Inflammatory stress accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis. Sirolimus, a new immunosuppressive agent, has been shown to have pleiotropic antiatherosclerotic effects. In this study we hypothesized that sirolimus inhibits 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR)-mediated cholesterol synthesis in human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) under inflammatory stress. Using radioactive assay, we demonstrated that sirolimus inhibited the increase of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)-induced cholesterol synthesis in VSMCs. Further studies showed that sirolimus inhibited both the HMGR gene and protein expression in VSMCs treated with or without IL-1beta. These effects were mediated by inhibiting the gene expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-2 (SREBP-2) and SREBP-2 cleavage-activating protein (SCAP) as checked by real-time PCR, Western blot analysis, and confocal microscopy for the observation of decreased protein translocation of the SCAP/SREBP-2 complex from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi. Insulin-induced gene-1 (Insig-1) is a key ER protein controlling the feedback regulation of HMGR at transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. We demonstrated that sirolimus increased Insig-1 expression which may bind to the SCAP, preventing the exit of SCAP-SREBP complexes from the ER. The increased Insig-1 also accelerated HMGR protein degradation in VSMCs as shown by pulse-chase analysis. In conclusion, sirolimus inhibits cholesterol synthesis induced by inflammatory stress through the downregulation of HMGR expression and the acceleration of HMGR protein degradation. These findings may improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the antiatherosclerosis properties of sirolimus.