THE EFFECT OF (-)-HYDROXYCITRATE ON THE ACTIVITY OF THE LOW-DENSITY-LIPOPROTEIN RECEPTOR AND 3-HYDROXY-3-METHYLGLUTARYL-COA REDUCTASE LEVELS IN THE HUMAN HEPATOMA-CELL LINE HEP G2

(-)-Hydroxycitrate, a potent inhibitor of ATP citrate-lyase, was tested in Hep G2 cells for effects on cholesterol homeostasis. After 2.5 h and 18 h incubations with (-)-hydroxycitrate at concentrations of 0.5 mM or higher, incorporation of [1,5-14C]citrate into fatty acids and cholesterol was strongly inhibited. This most likely reflects an effective inhibition of ATP citrate-lyase. Cholesterol biosynthesis was decreased to 27% of the control value as measured by incorporations from 3H2O, indicating a decreased flux of carbon units through the cholesterol-synthetic pathway. After 18 h preincubation with 2 mM-(-)-hydroxycitrate, the cellular low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) receptor activity was increased by 50%, as determined by the receptor-mediated association and degradation. Measurements of receptor-mediated binding versus LDL concentration suggests that this increase was due to an increase in the numbers of LDL receptors. Simultaneously, enzyme levels of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase as determined by activity measurements increased 30-fold. Our results suggest that the increases in HMG-CoA reductase and the LDL receptor are initiated by the decreased flux of carbon units in the cholesterol-synthetic pathway, owing to inhibition of ATP citrate-lyase. A similar induction of HMG-CoA reductase and LDL receptor was found after preincubation of cells with 0.3 μM-mevinolin, suggesting that the underlying mechanism for this induction is identical for both drugs.