Deficiency of apolipoprotein B synthesis in Suncus murinus

We reported previously that fatty liver is easily induced in a novel experimental animal, Suncus murinus (suncus) by withholding food. In this study, we focused on lipoprotein and apolipoprotein secretion from the liver. The study of lipoproteins from this animal revealed that small amounts of lipoproteins with apolipoprotein (apo) E but without apo B were observed in the fraction of density less than 1.08 g/ml. In order to learn whether apo B is synthesized by the liver or not, isolated suncus livers were perfused with an addition of [35S]methionine. Small amounts of radioactivity were observed in apo E of VLDL, and fairly large amounts in apo E and A-I in the fraction of LDL + HDL, suggesting that VLDL was secreted with apo E but not with apo B from the liver. Northern blot analysis with use of rat apo B cDNA revealed a weak signal of hybridized rat apo B cDNA between 15 kb and 9 kb in the suncus liver and intestinal mucosa; this is almost the same size as rat apo B mRNA. This finding suggests the presence of apo B mRNA in the suncus. In conclusion, apo B is not secreted from the suncus liver, owing to a defect in intracellular post-transcriptional processing or to ineffective transcription. This might be one of the reasons for fatty deposits in the suncus liver. Suncus may be a candidate for an animal model of abetalipoproteinemia as well as fatty liver due to a defect of apo B synthesis.