Lipoprotein Secretion and Triglyceride Stores in the Heart

• Published in: The Journal of biological chemistry Vol. 276; no. 42; pp. 38511 - 38517
• Main Authors: Björkegren, Johan, Véniant, Murielle, Kim, Sun K., Withycombe, Shannon K., Wood, Philip A., Hellerstein, Marc K., Neese, Richard A., Young, Stephen G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 19-10-2001; American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Subjects: Animals; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Blotting, Southern; Cells, Cultured; Humans; Lipids - blood; Lipoproteins - metabolism; Liver - metabolism; long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mice, Transgenic; Microscopy, Electron; microsomal triglyceride transfer protein; Myocardium - metabolism; Myocardium - ultrastructure; Perfusion; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Time Factors; Triglycerides - biosynthesis; Triglycerides - metabolism
• ISSN: 0021-9258; 1083-351X
• DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M106839200

The genes for apolipoprotein B and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein are expressed in mouse and human heart tissue. Why the heart would express these “lipoprotein assembly” genes has been unclear. Here we demonstrate that the beating mouse heart actually secretes spherical lipoproteins. Moreover, increased cardiac production of lipoproteins (e.g., in mice that express a human apolipoprotein B transgene) was associated with increased triglyceride secretion from the heart and decreased stores of triglycerides within the heart. Increased cardiac production of lipoproteins also reduced the pathological accumulation of triglycerides that occurs in the hearts of mice lacking long-chain acyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase. In contrast, blocking heart lipoprotein secretion (e.g., in heart-specific microsomal triglyceride transfer protein knockout mice) increased cardiac triglyceride stores. Thus, heart lipoprotein secretion helps regulate cardiac triglyceride stores and may protect the heart from the detrimental effects of surplus lipids.