Regulation of lipogenesis in isolated hepatocytes by triglyceride-rich lipoproteins

Very low density lipoproteins, chylomicrons, and remnants caused, within an hour, significant inhibition of fatty acid synthesis but not cholesterol synthesis in hepatocytes isolated from meal-fed rats. In contrast, low density lipoproteins, high density lipoproteins, and the serum fraction of density greater than 1.21 failed to significantly inhibit either fatty acid or cholesterol synthesis within 1 h. The Scatchard plots of specific binding showed that rat and human very low density lipoproteins interact with the high affinity sites on the hepatocytes with the apparent dissociation constants of 64 and 106 nM, respectively. These data also indicated that each hepatocyte was capable of binding 6 X 10(5) molecules of very low density lipoproteins.