Caveolin-associated accumulation of globotriaosylceramide in the vascular endothelium of alpha-galactosidase A null mice

Cardiovascular complications, including stroke and myocardial infarction, result in premature mortality in patients with Fabry disease, an X-linked deficiency of alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal A). The enzymatic defect results in the deposition of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) in the vascular endothelium. To better understand the underlying pathogenesis of Fabry disease, the caveolar lipid content of primary cultured mouse aortic endothelial cells isolated from alpha-Gal A null mice was measured. Lipid mass analysis revealed that the excessive Gb3 in cultured alpha-Gal A-deficient mouse aortic endothelial cells accumulated in endothelial plasma membrane caveolar fractions. The levels of glucosylceramide and lactosylceramide increased in parallel with Gb3 levels in an age-dependent manner, whereas globotetraosylceramide (Gb4) levels reached maximal levels by 6 months of age and then rapidly decreased at older ages. The levels of cholesterol enriched in caveolar membranes declined in parallel with the progressive deposition of Gb3. Depleting Gb3 with recombinant human alpha-Gal A protein or d-threo-ethylenedioxyphenyl-P4, an inhibitor of glucosylceramide synthase, restored cholesterol in cultured alpha-Gal A-deficient mouse aortic endothelial cell caveolae. By contrast, recombinant human alpha-Gal A was less effective in normalizing the cholesterol content. These results demonstrate the caveolar accumulation of glycosphingolipids in an in vitro model of a lysosomal storage disease and raise the possibility that dynamic changes in the composition of plasma membrane lipid microdomains may mediate the endothelial dysfunction seen in Fabry disease.