Differences in [14C]glycerol utilization in normal and familial hypercholesterolemic fibroblasts

It is known that cultured fibroblasts from familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) patients lack the normal cell receptor for low density lipoprotein (LDL) and that the absence of receptor-mediated transport of LDL cholesterol into these cells results in increased cellular synthesis of cholesterol. After 20 h perincubation in lipid-free medium, cultured FH fibroblasts incorporated significantly greater amounts of [14C]glycerol into cellular lipids than did normal fibroblasts. Relative to the control medium which contained only bovine serum albumin (BSA), preincubation with 5% fetal bovine serum or 50 micrograms LDL/ml decreased [14C]glycerol incorporation by both cell types. FH cells utilized more [14C]glycerol for phospholipid synthesis and less for triglyceride synthesis than normal cells. This study indicates that LDL may be important in the transport of glycerides, as well as cholesterol, to cells.