Receptors for homologous plasma lipoproteins on a rat hepatoma cell line.

Hepatocytes express on their surfaces more than one class of receptors capable of mediating the internalization of lipoproteins. However, relatively little is known about the binding characteristics of hepatic receptors for various lipoproteins, about the regulation of the receptors, and about the consequences for intracellular lipid metabolism of uptake of lipoproteins via different classes of receptors. The aim of the present studies was to characterize the binding and degradation of various lipoproteins and their mutual competition for cellular processing. Since these kinds of studies may be more easily carried out in continuous established hepatoma cell lines than in nondividing primary hepatocyte cultures, we examined the lipoprotein receptor functions of a well differentiated rat hepatoma (H-35). Cells were grown to confluence in Eagle's minimal essential medium in 15% newborn calf serum. Medium then was changed to 15% lipoprotein-deficient serum for 44 hr before experiments. External binding of 125I-labeled rat plasma and intestinal lymph lipoproteins was assessed at 4 degrees C. Cellular uptake and degradation were assessed at 37 degrees C. Lipoproteins were isolated by fixed angle or zonal ultracentrifugation or by heparin affinity column chromatography and characterized as to their lipid and apoprotein compositions. Labeled low density (LDL), high density (HDL2), non-apoE-HDL, very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), and chylomicron remnants (CM-R) each manifested specific and saturable binding and degradation by the hepatoma cells. Competition experiments indicated that separate receptors were present for LDL, HDL2, and CM-R. Most of HDL2 appeared to be bound to the non-apoE-HDL receptor.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)