ABHD5/CGI-58 facilitates the assembly and secretion of apolipoprotein B lipoproteins by McA RH7777 rat hepatoma cells

Lipolysis of stored triacylglycerols provides lipid precursors for the assembly of apolipoprotein B (apoB) lipoproteins in hepatocytes. Abhydrolase domain containing 5 (ABHD5) is expressed in liver and facilitates the lipolysis of triacylglycerols. To study the function of ABHD5 in lipoprotein secretion, we silenced the expression of ABHD5 in McA RH7777 cells using RNA interference and studied the metabolism of lipids and secretion of apoB lipoproteins. McA RH7777 cells deficient in ABHD5 secreted reduced amounts of apoB, triacylglycerols, and cholesterol esters. Detailed analysis of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry data for the molecular species of secreted triacylglycerols revealed that deficiency of ABHD5 significantly reduced secretion of triacylglycerols containing oleate, even when oleate was supplied in the culture medium; the ABHD5-deficient cells partially compensated by secreting higher levels of triacylglycerols containing saturated fatty acids. In experiments tracking the metabolism of [¹⁴C]oleate, silencing of ABHD5 reduced lipolysis of cellular triacylglycerols and incorporation of intermediates derived from stored lipids into secreted triacylglycerols and cholesterol esters. In contrast, the incorporation of exogenous oleate into secreted triacylglycerols and cholesterol esters was unaffected by deficiency of ABHD5. These findings suggest that ABHD5 facilitates the use of lipid intermediates derived from lipolysis of stored triacylglycerols for the assembly of lipoproteins.