Dietary cholesterol regulates hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase gene expression in rats primarily at the level of translation.

The level of gene expression at which dietary cholesterol exerts feedback regulation on hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase was investigated using young male Sprague-Dawley rats. Previous studies suggested that this regulation might be exerted posttranscriptionally. Thus, possible regulation at the levels of catalytic efficiency, protein turnover, and translation was investigated. To examine possible regulation at the level of catalytic efficiency, rats were placed on chow diets supplemented with 2% cholesterol and the rates of decline in hepatic HMG-CoA reductase activity and immunoreactive protein levels were determined. Both decreased slowly over a 72-h period. The catalytic efficiency did not change. These observations are inconsistent with phosphorylation-dephosphorylation or thiol-disulfide interchange as possible mechanisms. The possibility that dietary cholesterol might act by increasing the rate of turnover of HMG-CoA reductase protein was examined by determining the half-life of the enzyme in livers from rats consuming chow or chow supplemented with 2% cholesterol. The half-life of HMG-CoA reductase protein was not decreased in the animals receiving cholesterol, thus ruling out this possibility. Regulation at the level of translation was investigated by measuring the rate of HMG-CoA reductase protein synthesis in liver slices using [35S]methionine and [35S]cysteine. It was found that the rate of synthesis was reduced by over 80% in liver slices from rats fed a diet supplemented with 2% cholesterol. Similar results were obtained with liver slices from rats given mevalonolactone, which supplies both sterol and nonsterol endproducts. These results indicate that cholesterol regulates hepatic HMG-CoA reductase gene expression in rats primarily at the level of translation. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.