Reversible inactivation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase: reductase kinase and mevalonate kinase are separate enzymes

Reductase kinase and mevalonate kinase are separated by: a) ammonium sulfate fractionation; b) chromatography on agarose-Procion Red HE3B; and c) chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel. Fractions containing only reductase kinase reversibly inactivated microsomal or homogeneous HMG-CoA reductase. Fractions containing only mevalonate kinase revealed artifactual reductase kinase activity in the absence of EDTA or mevalonic acid; however, addition of EDTA or mevalonate before reductase assay completely blocked any apparent decline in HMG-CoA reductase activity. Under these conditions no dephosphorylation (reactivation) was observed by phosphatase. The combined results demonstrate unequivocally that reductase kinase and mevalonate kinase are two different enzymes and inactivation of HMG-CoA reductase is catalyzed by ATP-Mg-dependent reductase kinase.     

Early embryonic lethality caused by targeted disruption of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase gene

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, which converts HMG-CoA to mevalonate, catalyzes the ratelimiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis. Because this mevalonate pathway also produces several non-sterol isoprenoid compounds, the level of HMG-CoA reductase activity may coordinate many cellular processes and functions. We used gene targeting to knock out the mouse HMG-CoA reductase gene. The heterozygous mutant mice (Hmgcr+/-) appeared normal in their development and gross anatomy and were fertile. Although HMG-CoA reductase activities were reduced in Hmgcr+/- embryonic fibroblasts, the enzyme activities and cholesterol biosynthesis remained unaffected in the liver from Hmgcr+/- mice, suggesting that the haploid amount of Hmgcr gene is not rate-limiting in the hepatic cholesterol homeostasis. Consistently, plasma lipoprotein profiles were similar between Hmgcr+/- and Hmgcr+/+ mice. In contrast, the embryos homozygous for the Hmgcr mutant allele were recovered at the blastocyst stage, but not at E8.5, indicating that HMG-CoA reductase is crucial for early development of the mouse embryos. The lethal phenotype was not completely rescued by supplementing the dams with mevalonate. Although it has been postulated that a second, peroxisome-specific HMG-CoA reductase could substitute for the ER reductase in vitro, we speculate that the putative peroxisomal reductase gene, if existed, does not fully compensate for the lack of the ER enzyme at least in embryogenesis.     

Reversible inactivation-reactivation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase of rat intestine

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase in the ileum of rats was inactivated by Mg2+-ATP and reversibly reactivated by cytoplasmic activator from the liver. The mevalonate kinase reaction was presumably not involved in this inactivation. Studies of nucleotide specificity for the inactivation revealed that ATP was most effective in the reaction among the nucleotides tested. In contrast to the hepatic microsomal HMG-CoA reductase, more than one-half of intestinal reductase existed in an active form. These observations indicated the presence of phosphorylation-dephosphorylation mechanism for modulation of intestinal HMG-CoA reductase.     

Isoprenoid synthesis in Halobacterium halobium. Modulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme a concentration in response to mevalonate availability

Halobacterium halobium was evaluated as a potentially simpler biological model to study the regulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase activity (content) in response to mevalonate availability. H. halobium's HMG-CoA reductase was soluble and required NADPH as its reduced coenzyme. Maximum HMG-CoA reductase activity (4-10 nmol/min/mg of soluble protein) was obtained in buffers which contained 3.5 M KCl. Mevinolin (a) blocked growth of H. halobium, (b) was a competitive inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase (Ki = 20 nM), (c) did not cause the paradoxical increase in assayable reductase activity, as reported for eukaryotic cells, and (d) caused a rapid (within 30 min) 8-12-fold accumulation of intracellular HMG-CoA. Mevalonate blocked and reversed mevinolin-mediated HMG-CoA accumulation. Although mevinolin-treated cell's growth was restored by mevalonate, HMG-CoA reductase's activity was not. Thus, H. halobium is a unique biological model which allows one to study the regulation of intracellular HMG-CoA concentration and not HMG-CoA reductase activity (content) in response to mevalonate availability.     

Sterol-independent regulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase by mevalonate in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Magnitude and specificity

In this paper, we assess the relative degree of regulation of the rate-limiting enzyme of isoprenoid biosynthesis, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, by sterol and nonsterol products of mevalonate by utilizing cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells blocked in sterol synthesis. We also examine the two other enzymes of mevalonate biosynthesis, acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase and HMG-CoA synthase, for regulation by mevalonate supplements. These studies indicate that in proliferating fibroblasts, treatment with mevalonic acid can produce a suppression of HMG-CoA reductase activity similar to magnitude to that caused by oxygenated sterols. In contrast, HMG-CoA synthase and acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase are only weakly regulated by mevalonate when compared with 25-hydroxycholesterol. Furthermore, neither HMG-CoA synthase nor acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase exhibits the multivalent control response by sterol and mevalonate supplements in the absence of endogenous mevalonate synthesis which is characteristic of nonsterol regulation of HMG-CoA reductase. These observations suggest that nonsterol regulation of HMG-CoA reductase is specific to that enzyme in contrast to the pleiotropic regulation of enzymes of sterol biosynthesis observed with oxygenated sterols. In Chinese hamster ovary cells supplemented with mevalonate at concentrations that are inhibitory to reductase activity, at least 80% of the inhibition appears to be mediated by nonsterol products of mevalonate. In addition, feed-back regulation of HMG-CoA reductase by endogenously synthesized nonsterol isoprenoids in the absence of exogenous sterol or mevalonate supplements also produces a 70% inhibition of the enzyme activity.     

Instructions for authors

The aim of the present study was to examine hypothesis that the enhanced cholesterologenesis, found in rats with experimental chronic renal failure (CRF) resulted from the increased gene expression of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase – the rate limiting enzyme in the cholesterologenesis pathway, responsible for mevalonate synthesis. Wistar rats were used and experimental CRF was achieved by 5/6 nephrectomy model. We examined: (a) the changes in the rat liver microsomal HMG-CoA reductase activity, (b) the rat liver HMG-CoA reductase mRNA abundance in various times of day. Obtained data indicates that the increased activity of HMG-CoA reductase in the liver of rats with experimental CRF parallel enhanced mRNA level and suggests that enhanced cholesterol biosynthesis, observed in experimental CRF is at least in part due to the increased HMG-CoA reductase gene expression. The results also indicate that the physiological diurnal rhythm of HMG-CoA reductase activity is preserved in the course of experimental CRF.     

Effects of compactin, mevalonate and low-density lipoprotein on 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase activity and low-density-lipoprotein-receptor activity in the human hepatoma cell line Hep G2.

Compactin, an inhibitor of HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA) reductase, decreased cholesterol synthesis in intact Hep G2 cells. However, after the inhibitor was washed away, the HMG-CoA-reductase activity determined in the cell homogenate was found to be increased. Also the high-affinity association of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) to Hep G2 cells was elevated after incubation with compactin. Lipoprotein-depleted serum, present in the incubation medium, potentiated the compactin effect compared with incubation in the presence of human serum albumin. Addition of either mevalonate or LDL prevented the compactin-induced rise in activities of both HMG-CoA reductase and LDL receptor in a comparable manner. It is concluded that in this human hepatoma cell line, as in non-transformed cells, both endogenous mevalonate or mevalonate-derived products and exogenous cholesterol are able to modulate the HMG-CoA reductase activity as well as the LDL-receptor activity.     

Cellular distribution of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase and mevalonate kinase in leaves of Nepeta cataria

In Nepeta cataria leaf tissue there are two separate activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase and mevalonate (MVA) kinase respectively as determined by the use of a 20–45% discontinuous sucrose density gradient. Cell-free extracts of leaf and callus tissue were prepared and HMG-CoA reductase and MVA kinase activities were compared to activities in extracts from porcine livers and yeast autolysates. Callus tissue from N. cataria has only one peak of HMG-CoA reductase and MVA kinase activity located at the top of the sucrose density gradient. Isolated chloroplast from N. cataria leaves have one peak of HMG-CoA reductase and MVA kinase activity, located near the bottom of a sucrose density gradient. MVA kinase activities in porcine livers and yeast autolysate also showed only one activity profile, located at the top of the sucrose gradient. Partial purification of the leaf extract through the use of differential centrifugation, 30–70% ammonium sulfate precipitation and Bio-Gel P-100 column chromatography shows that MVA kinase, 5-phosphomevalonate (MVAP) kinase and 5-pyrophosphomevalonate (MVAPP) decarboxylase activities remain in the same fractions. The extra-chloroplastidic HMG-CoA reductase activity may be separated from MVA kinase activity by differential centrifugation. These results suggest the presence of two HMG-CoA reductase and MVA kinase enzymes in N. cataria leaf tissue—one located in the chloroplast and a second being extra-chloroplastidic.     

Immunohistochemical studies on electron transport proteins associated with cytochromes P-450 in steroidogenic tissues. II. Microsomal NADPH-cytochrome c reductase in the rat adrenal.

NADPH-cytochrome c reductase (NADPH : ferricytochrome oxido-reductase, EC 1.6.2.4), the flavoprotein which mediates the NADPH-dependent reduction of cytochromes P-450 in adrenocortical microsomes, has been localized immunohistochemically at the light microscopic level in rat adrenal glands. Localization was achieved through the use of sheep antiserum produced against purified, trypsin-solubilized rat hepatic microsomal NADPH-cytochrome c reductase in both an unlabeled antibody peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique and an indirect fluorescent antibody method. The sheep antibody to rat hepatic microsomal NADPH-cytochrome c reductase concomitantly inhibited the NADPH-cytochrome c reductase and progesterone 21-hydroxylase activities catalyzed by isolated rat adrenal microsomes. When sections of rat adrenal glands were exposed to the reductase antiserum in both immunohistochemical procedures, positive staining for NADPH-cytochrome c reductase was observed in parenchymal cells of the three cortical zones but not in medullary chromaffin cells. The intensity of staining, however, was found to differ among the three cortical zones, with the most intense staining being found in the zona fasciculata and the least in the zona glomerulosa. The intensity of staining was also found to differ among cells within the zona fasciculata. These immunohistochemical observations demonstrate that microsomal NADPH-cytochrome c reductase is not distributed uniformly throughout the rat adrenal cortex.     

Development of a noncompetitive, solid phase, bridged biotin-avidin enzyme immunoassay for measurement of human leukocyte microsomal HMG-CoA reductase protein concentration

Methods were developed for determination of human mononuclear leukocyte HMG-CoA reductase protein concentration by a noncompetitive, solid phase, bridged biotin-avidin enzyme immunoassay procedure. Leukocyte microsomal HMG-CoA reductase, first immobilized onto a nitrocellulose filter, is sequentially reacted with 1) monospecific, polyclonal rabbit anti-rat liver HMG-CoA reductase antiserum, which crossreacts with the human liver and leukocyte enzymes; 2) biotinylated donkey anti-rabbit immunoglobulin; 3) a streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate; and 4) 4-chloro-1-naphthol and H2O2 to visualize the quantity of horseradish peroxidase bound to the immunocomplex. Color development was proportional to the quantity of either purified liver or leukocyte microsomal HMG-CoA reductase applied to the nitrocellulose. Color development was not observed, however, when HMG-CoA reductase was omitted from the nitrocellulose, when one of the reactant species was omitted from the incubation reactions, or when anti-rat liver HMG-CoA reductase antiserum was pre-absorbed with either rat liver or human leukocyte HMG-CoA reductase. Immunoreactivity of microsomal HMG-CoA reductase was independent of the phosphorylation state of the enzyme, but was inversely related to the concentration of thiol-reducing agents present in the microsomal preparation up to 4 mM. Further increases in thiol-reductant failed to produce changes in immunoreactivity. Freshly isolated mononuclear leukocyte microsomal HMG-CoA reductase protein concentration in leukocytes from 31 healthy, normocholesterolemic subjects was a linear function of HMG-CoA reductase activity (R = 0.65; P less than 0.001). The catalytic efficiency of the freshly isolated mononuclear leukocyte enzyme was 313 +/- 34 pmol of mevalonate formed per min of incubation at 37 degrees C per mg immunoreactive protein. This methodology, in conjunction with that recently developed to measure human leukocyte HMG-CoA reductase activity (1984. J. Lipid Res. 25: 967-978), should prove useful in discriminating between HMG-CoA reductase regulatory mechanisms involving changes in enzyme protein concentration and those resulting from changes in enzyme catalytic efficiency.     

Regulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase synthesis by a non-sterol mevalonate-derived product in Mev-1 cells. Apparent translational control

A somatic cell mutant (Mev-1) auxotrophic for mevalonate by virtue of a complete lack of detectable 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) synthase activity has been shown to demonstrate a requirement for a non-sterol mevalonate-derived product for regulation of synthesis of HMG-CoA reductase. A comparison of the effects of 25-hydroxycholesterol and the combination of 25-hydroxycholesterol and mevalonate on HMG-CoA reductase activity, synthesis, and mRNA levels in Mev-1 is presented in this report. The results show a close correlation between activity, rate of synthesis, and mRNA levels for Mev-1 cells treated with 25-hydroxycholesterol alone. Under the conditions of these experiments these effects are relatively small (approximately a 4-fold decrease). A much larger inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase activity and rate of synthesis (approximately 50-fold) is observed upon treatment of Mev-1 cells with a combination of 25-hydroxycholesterol and mevalonate. Yet, under these conditions mRNA levels are still reduced by only a factor of 4. These results are interpreted to suggest that the non-sterol mevalonate-derived regulatory product of HMG-CoA reductase acts by a translational control mechanism.     

The activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase and acyl-CoA: cholesterol acyltransferase in hepatic microsomes from male, female and pregnant rats. The effect of cholestyramine treatment and the relationship of enzyme activity to microsomal lipid composition

The relationship of microsomal cholesterol and phospholipid fatty acid composition to the activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase and acyl-CoA: cholesterol acyltransferase was investigated in male, female virgin and pregnant rats when hepatic cholesterogenesis was stimulated by cholestyramine. Cholestyramine increased HMG-CoA reductase activity in both sexes but had no effect on microsomal free cholesterol level or acyl-CoA: cholesterol acyltransferase activity. The data suggest that during cholestyramine treatment high rates of bile acid synthesis are supported by preferential channelling of cholesterol into this pathway, whilst the substrate pool and activity of acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase are maintained unaltered. The lack of a consistent relationship among enzyme activities and microsomal lipid composition infers that HMG-CoA reductase and acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase are regulated in vivo by independent mechanisms which are unlikely to involve modulation by the physical properties of the microsomal lipid.     

Diurnal variation in the fraction of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase in the active form in the mammary gland of the lactating rat.

'Expressed' and 'total' activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) were measured in freeze-clamped samples of mammary glands from lactating rats at intervals throughout the 24 h light/dark cycle. 'Expressed' activities were measured in microsomal fractions isolated and assayed in the presence of 100 mM-KF. 'Total' activities were determined in microsomal preparations from the same homogenates but washed free of KF and incubated with exogenously added sheep liver phosphoprotein phosphatase before assay. Both 'expressed' and 'total' activities of HMG-CoA reductase underwent a diurnal cycle, which had a major peak 6 h into the light phase and a nadir 15 h later, i.e. 9 h into the dark period. Both activities showed a secondary peak of activity (around 68% of the maximum activity) at the time of changeover from dark to light, with a trough in the value of the 'expressed' activity that was close to the nadir value. 'Expressed' activity was lower than 'total' at all time points, indicating the presence of enzyme molecules inactivated by covalent phosphorylation. Nevertheless the 'expressed'/'total' activity ratio was comparatively constant and varied only between 43% and 75%. Immunotitration of enzyme activity, with antiserum raised in sheep against purified rat liver HMG-CoA reductase, confirmed the presence of both active and inactive forms of the enzyme and indicated that at the peak and nadir the variation in 'expressed' HMG-CoA reductase activity resulted from changes in the total number of enzyme molecules rather than from covalent modification. The sample obtained after 3 h of the light phase exhibited an anomalously low 'total' HMG-CoA reductase activity, which could be increased when Cl- replaced F- in the homogenization medium. The result suggests that at that time the activity of the enzyme could be regulated by mechanisms other than covalent phosphorylation or degradation.     

Feedback regulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In eukaryotic cells all isoprenoids are synthesized from a common precursor, mevalonate. The formation of mevalonate from 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) is catalyzed by HMG-CoA reductase and is the first committed step in isoprenoid biosynthesis. In mammalian cells, synthesis of HMG-CoA reductase is subject to feedback regulation at multiple molecular levels. We examined the state of feedback regulation of the synthesis of the HMG-CoA reductase isozyme encoded by the yeast gene HMG1 to examine the generality of this regulatory pattern. In yeast, synthesis of Hmg1p was subject to feedback regulation. This regulation of HMG-CoA reductase synthesis was independent of any change in the level of HMG1 mRNA. Furthermore, regulation of Hmg1p synthesis was keyed to the level of a nonsterol product of the mevalonate pathway. Manipulations of endogenous levels of several isoprenoid intermediates, either pharmacologically or genetically, suggested that mevalonate levels may control the synthesis of Hmg1p through effects on translation.     

Enterococcus faecalis acetoacetyl-coenzyme A thiolase/3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, a dual-function protein of isopentenyl diphosphate biosynthesis

Many bacteria employ the nonmevalonate pathway for synthesis of isopentenyl diphosphate, the monomer unit for isoprenoid biosynthesis. However, gram-positive cocci exclusively use the mevalonate pathway, which is essential for their growth (E. I. Wilding et al., J. Bacteriol. 182:4319-4327, 2000). Enzymes of the mevalonate pathway are thus potential targets for drug intervention. Uniquely, the enterococci possess a single open reading frame, mvaE, that appears to encode two enzymes of the mevalonate pathway, acetoacetyl-coenzyme A thiolase and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. Western blotting revealed that the mvaE gene product is a single polypeptide in Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus hirae. The mvaE gene was cloned from E. faecalis and was expressed with an N-terminal His tag in Escherichia coli. The gene product was then purified by nickel affinity chromatography. As predicted, the 86.5-kDa mvaE gene product catalyzed both the acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase and HMG-CoA reductase reactions. Temperature optima, DeltaH(a) and K(m) values, and pH optima were determined for both activities. Kinetic studies of acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase implicated a ping-pong mechanism. CoA acted as an inhibitor competitive with acetyl-CoA. A millimolar K(i) for a statin drug confirmed that E. faecalis HMG-CoA reductase is a class II enzyme. The oxidoreductant was NADP(H). A role for an active-site histidine during the first redox step of the HMG-CoA, reductase reaction was suggested by the ability of diethylpyrocarbonate to block formation of mevalonate from HMG-CoA, but not from mevaldehyde. Sequence comparisons with other HMG-CoA reductases suggest that the essential active-site histidine is His756. The mvaE gene product represents the first example of an HMG-CoA reductase fused to another enzyme.     

Regulated degradation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase in permeabilized cells.

We have studied the regulated degradation of the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase within the endoplasmic reticulum in cells permeabilized with digitonin. Using Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with a plasmid encoding HMGal, a chimeric protein containing the membrane domain of HMG-CoA reductase coupled to beta-galactosidase, we have demonstrated mevalonate and sterol-stimulated loss of beta-galactosidase activity. In pulse-chase experiments we have demonstrated mevalonate-stimulated degradation of both HMGal and HMG-CoA reductase. The rate of mevalonate-stimulated degradation observed in permeabilized cells tends to be slightly slower than that observed in intact cells treated with mevalonate and is dependent upon incubation of cells with mevalonate prior to permeabilization. The degradation process measured in this report extends a previous report of HMG-CoA reductase degradation in digitonin-permeabilized cells (Leonard, D. A., and Chen, H. W. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 7914-7919) by mimicking key physiological features of the in vivo process, including: stimulation by regulatory molecules, specifically mevalonate and sterols; inhibition by cycloheximide; and inhibition by an inhibitor of neutral cysteine proteases.     

Inhibition of degradation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase in vivo by cysteine protease inhibitors

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase is a key regulatory enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis and is located in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). A fusion protein, HMGal, consisting of the membrane domain of HMG-CoA reductase fused to Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase and expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells from the SV40 promoter, was previously constructed and was found to respond to regulatory signals for degradation in a similar fashion to the intact HMG-CoA reductase. Degradation of both HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal in CHO cells was enhanced by addition of mevalonate or low density lipoprotein (LDL). In this report we show that 2 cysteine protease inhibitors, N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-norleucinal (ALLN) and N-acetyl-leucyl-leucyl-methioninal (ALLM), completely inhibit the mevalonate- or LDL-accelerated degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal and also block the basal degradation of these enzymes. It has been shown that in vitro these protease inhibitors inhibit the activities of Ca(2+)-dependent neutral proteases as well as lysosomal proteases, including cathepsin L, cathepsin b, and cathepsin D. However, the mevalonate-accelerated degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal is not affected by lysosomotropic agents, suggesting that the site of action of these inhibitor peptides in preventing the degradation is not the cathepsins. In brefeldin A-treated cells, where protein export from the ER is blocked, ALLN is still effective in inhibiting the degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal. These results indicate the involvement of non-lysosomal Ca(2+)-dependent proteases in the basal and the accelerated degradation of HMG-CoA reductase and HMGal. Enzymatic assays in vitro and immunoblot analyses have revealed calpain- and calpastatin-like proteins in CHO cells. The activities and the amount of these proteins do not change under conditions of enhanced degradation, indicating that the levels of these proteins are not subject to mevalonate regulation.     

Isoprenoid synthesis in isolated embryonic Drosophila cells. Sterol-independent regulatory signal molecule is distal to isopentenyl 1-pyrophosphates

Embryonic Drosophila cells (Kc cells) were used to further characterize sterol-independent modulation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase activity. 3-Methyl-3-5-dihydroxyvalerate (mevalonate), 3-fluoromethyl-3,5-dihydroxyvalerate (fluoromevalonate), and 3-ethyl-3,5-dihydroxyvalerate (homomevalonate) were tested as modulators. Although mevalonate caused a rapid, reversible suppression of reductase activity, fluoro- and homomevalonate increased activity; fluoromevalonate was more effective than homomevalonate. Mevalonate, added simultaneously with fluoromevalonate, blocked the analogue's effect on Kc cell reductase activity. However, mevalonate did not suppress an established fluoromevalonate increase in HMG-CoA reductase activity. Fluoromevalonate blocked [1-14C, 5-3H]mevalonate conversion to 14CO2- and 3H-labeled lipids and [3H] mevalonate 5-pyrophosphate accumulated. Neither protein nor RNA synthesis were required for mevalonate-mediated suppression of reductase activity. However, fluoromevalonate's effect on reductase activity required protein synthesis. Furthermore, in the absence of protein synthesis, fluoromevalonate-stabilized Kc cell HMG-CoA reductase activity. We have concluded that mevalonate, fluoromevalonate, homomevalonate, and compactin (mevinolin) modulated HMG-CoA reductase activity because they altered isoprenoid carbon flow to a post-isopentenyl 1-pyrophosphate regulatory, signal molecule.     

Role of reversible phosphorylation in mediating changes in the activity of hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase during pregnancy and lactation in the rat.

1. The expressed and total (completely dephosphorylated) activities of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase were measured in microsomal fractions isolated from cold-clamped liver samples from female rats in various stages of the reproductive cycle. 2. There was little change in total HMG-CoA reductase activity during pregnancy and early lactation, but after 2 days post partum there was a marked increase in total activity. 3. The expressed/total activity ratio of HMG-CoA reductase showed a profound decrease during the last 2 days of pregnancy. The fraction of the enzyme in the active form increased progressively during the first 2 days of lactation. 4. The combined effect of these changes was that the expressed activity of HMG-CoA reductase changed in parallel with the known changes in the hepatic rate of cholesterogenesis during pregnancy and lactation in vivo.