Stimulation of cholesterol esterification in rhesus monkey arterial smooth muscle cells

The influence of homologous high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) and of whole hypercholesterolemic serum on the esterification of oleic acid and cholesterol was studied in rhesus monkey arterial smooth muscle cells. Whole hypercholesterolemic serum and isolated LDL stimulated cholesterol esterification as much as 10-fold using either cholesterol-1,2-3H or oleate-1-14C as substrate. At the same concentrations of cholesterol, HDL stimulated cholesterol esterification to a lesser extent, to a maximum of 3-fold. Associated with the stimulation of cholesterol esterification by LDL or whole hypercholesterolemic serum was a greater than 10-fold increase in the cholesteryl ester content of the arterial smooth muscle cells. Esterification to cholesterol reached a maximum after 8-12 hours of culture with either hypercholesterolemic serum or LDL. The stimulation of esterification was specific for esterification to cholesterol because there was little change in incorporation of fatty acid into triglycerides and phospholipids. These studies provide further evidence that a major consequence of the interaction of plasma LDL with the cellular elements of the arterial wall is a stimulation of cholesterol esterification. These studies, coupled with the observation that cholesteryl esters, more than any other single component, increase in the atherosclerotic artery, suggest an important role of a stimulation in cholesterol esterification in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.