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Human Nutrition Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville MD 20705 and * Departments of Anatomy & Cell Biology and Pediatrics, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203
3To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: harrisone{at}bhnrc.arsusda.gov.
| ABSTRACT |
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KEY WORDS: retinoids lipid absorption pancreatic enzymes chylomicrons lipases
| INTRODUCTION |
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| Hydrolysis of Retinyl Esters in Intestine. |
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50% less cholesterol provided as cholesteryl ester
compared with wild-type mice. In contrast, CELKO mice absorbed the
same amount of retinol, when provided as retinyl ester, as did
wild-type mice. On the other hand, neither strain absorbed retinyl
hexadecyl ether (2
We sought to identify the non-CEL, pancreatic REH activity that was
present in CELKO mice, as well as to investigate this activity in
wild-type mice and in rats. Several lines of evidence suggest that
the activity is due to PTL (5)
. First, when pancreatic
homogenates of wild-type mice and rats were assayed with different
bile salts, cholesteryl ester hydrolase activity was detected only in
the presence of trihydroxy bile salts, consistent with previous results
(6)
. Pancreatic REH activity, however, is not absolutely
dependent on trihydroxy bile salts and was detected not only in the
presence of trihydroxy bile salts, but also in the presence of
dihydroxy bile salts and CHAPS, a bile salt analog, and in the
absence of bile salts. Second, when pancreatic homogenates obtained
from rats, and wild-type and CELKO mice were used to assay REH
activity, a considerable stimulation of the REH activity by colipase
was observed, indicating that PTL was contributing to the bile
salt-dependent REH activity. Third, when pancreatic homogenates
were applied to DEAE-chromatography, the majority of REH
activity coeluted with PTL activity. Fourth, the enzymatic
characteristics of purified human PTL suggested that retinyl palmitate
was a substrate. Hydrolysis of both retinyl esters and triglycerides by
the enzyme were completely dependent on the presence of colipase, and
other enzymatic properties were similar for both substrates.
Although our data strongly suggest that PTL is a major REH in rat and
mouse intestinal lumen, they do not provide final proof. For example,
some triglyceride hydrolysis was observed in the absence of colipase in
pancreatic homogenates, which may point to the presence of other
related enzyme activities such as pancreatic lipase related protein 2
(PLRP2). PLRP2 is 65% identical to PTL and shows activity toward
triglycerides in the classical PTL assay (7)
. At present,
we do not know the percentage contribution of PLRP2 to pancreatic bile
saltdependent REH activity. Also, another pancreatic lipase related
protein (PLRP1) has been cloned, which is 68% homologous to PTL, but
whose substrate remains unknown (8)
. Thus, more than one
enzyme may be responsible for the complete hydrolysis of retinyl esters
in the intestinal lumen.
In addition to pancreatic bile saltdependent REH activities, an REH
activity intrinsically located in the brush border membrane of
enterocytes was shown in rat and human intestines (9
,10)
.
This activity was suggested to be due to an intestinal phospholipase B.
The authors showed that rat brush border membrane, isolated from rats
in which the common pancreatic duct had been ligated for 2 d (thus
prohibiting contamination of brush border membrane with enzymes
secreted by pancreas such as CEL or PTL), had a greatly decreased
hydrolytic activity against short-chain retinyl esters (in the
presence of trihydroxy bile salts), and a smaller (30%) decrease in
activity against long-chain retinyl esters (such as retinyl
palmitate) compared with sham-operated rats. Therefore, they
suggested that short-chain REH was due mainly to enzymes of
pancreatic origin, whereas the majority (70%) of long-chain REH
was intrinsic to the brush border. The remaining 30% of REH activity
could be due to PTL because this REH activity was detected in the
presence of both trihydroxy and dihydroxy bile salts. It is important
to point out that the relative activities observed in vitro may not
reflect the relative contributions of the various enzymes in vivo. To
determine which of the above-mentioned enzymes is the most critical
in intestinal RE digestion and absorption, it will be necessary to
perform RE absorption experiments in the appropriate knockout mouse
strains and in mice deficient in more than one enzyme. The enzymes
potentially involved in hydrolysis of dietary retinyl esters are
outlined in Figure 1
.
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| Uptake of Vetinol by Enteroctyes. |
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Early studies using intestinal segments also suggested that the
unesterified retinol was taken up by protein-mediated facilitated
diffusion and passive diffusion mechanisms at physiologic (150 nmol/L)
and pharmacologic concentrations (4502700 nmol/L), respectively
(14
,15)
. Recently, some evidence for protein-mediated
uptake of retinol has been presented using intestinal segments
(16
,17)
. Until now, no protein has been identified and
characterized that might be involved in the uptake of retinol (Fig. 1)
.
However, three different membrane-bound proteins, CD36,
membrane-bound fatty acidbinding protein and a fatty acid
transport protein that might be involved in fatty acid uptake have been
identified [for review, see (18)
]. It is possible that
these proteins may play a role in retinol transport. In addition, other
proteins may exist for the transport of retinol.
The general perception that retinol is efficiently absorbed and
quantitatively transported on chylomicrons may require reevaluation
[for review, see (1
,19)
]. First, the recovery of
ingested retinol in lymph varies between 20 and 60% in various studies
(1
,20
,21)
. Second, Hollander (22)
showed that
60 and 30% of the absorbed retinol is secreted into lymph and
portal circulation, respectively. Furthermore, he showed that secretion
of retinol into lymph was modulated by the presence of different
concentrations of taurocholate and different fatty acids
(22)
. Third, oral supplementation of retinol to
abetalipoproteinemia patients, who do not assemble and secrete
chylomicrons, resulted in partial recovery from symptoms of retinol
deficiency (23)
. Fourth, cell culture studies showed that
free retinol or its metabolized products were transported across the
cells independent of the assembly and secretion of lipoproteins
(13)
. Thus, the majority of the absorbed retinol is
secreted into lymph in esterified form. However, a small but
significant amount is also secreted into portal circulation, probably
as free retinol. The transport of free retinol to the portal
circulation is expected to be physiologically important in pathologic
conditions that affect the secretion of chylomicrons. Thus, the limited
transport of free retinol may be an essential back-up mechanism for
the homoeostasis of vitamin A under some conditions.
After cellular uptake, free retinol is probably sequestered by cellular
retinol-binding proteins (CRBPs). Two CRBPs, CRBP1 and CRBP2 have
been purified and characterized extensively. They have considerable
sequence identity and belong to a family of fatty acidbinding
proteins. These proteins share considerable structural, genetic and
biochemical properties. However, the cellular expression pattern of
these proteins is very different. CRBP1, a 14.6-kDa polypeptide, is
expressed in many tissues, whereas CRBP2, a 16-kDa polypeptide, is
expressed primarily in the absorptive cells of the small intestine.
CRBP2 is one of the most abundant proteins and accounts for
1% of
the total soluble proteins recovered from the jejunal mucosa. Its
tissue distribution and abundance indicate that it is uniquely suited
for retinol absorption by the intestine [for reviews, see
(24
25
26)
].
In vitro studies indicated that CRBP2 can play several roles in the
trafficking of retinol. It has been speculated that it can bind to
specific transporters on the brush border membrane and permit
facilitated diffusion. It can serve as a reservoir to keep the
concentrations of free retinoids very low and protect cells from their
detergent-like properties. More important, it may present retinoids
to different enzymes and direct their metabolism. For example, retinol
bound to CRBP2 is esterified primarily by lecithin-retinol
acyltransferase (LRAT), but not by acyl-CoA-retinol acyltransferase
(ARAT), and might be channeled mainly for secretion by intestinal cells
(27)
(Fig. 1)
.
In vivo studies showed that CRBP2 mRNA levels are increased in the
small intestine of retinoid-deficient rats (28)
and
rats fed long-chain fatty acids (29)
. In Caco-2 cells,
CRBP2 mRNA was increased after treatment of the differentiated cells
with retinoic acid. More importantly, this resulted in increased
absorption and intracellular esterification of radiolabeled retinol.
Furthermore, absorption and esterification were also increased after
the overexpression of CRBP2 in these cells (30)
. These
studies indicate that changes in CRBP2 expression result in the
modulation of retinol metabolism (31
32
33)
. However, it is
not known whether the increased expression of CRBP2 results in
increased secretion of retinyl esters in chylomicrons.
| Reesterification and Incorporation into Chylomicrons. |
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In enterocytes, two enzymes, LRAT and ARAT, have been identified that
are involved in the esterification of free retinol (Fig. 1)
. It has
been suggested (but not shown) that retinyl esters formed by LRAT and
ARAT may be targeted for secretion with chylomicrons and storage,
respectively (19)
. It is generally believed that retinol
is secreted into the lymph mainly as retinyl palmitate. During
metabolic studies, analysis of the plasma revealed that most of the
retinyl esters are present in small chylomicrons (34)
.
Substantial amounts of retinyl esters are also found in large
chylomicrons followed by smaller amounts in VLDL (34)
. In
contrast to triglycerides, cholesterol esters and other lipids, retinyl
esters are not present in other lipoproteins such as intermediate
density lipoproteins, LDL or HDL. These studies indicate that retinyl
esters are present mainly in large and small chylomicrons and behave
very differently from other neutral lipids such as triglycerides and
cholesterol esters. What is the molecular basis for this specificity?
How do intestinal cells incorporate retinyl esters into chylomicrons?
To understand the mechanism of secretion of RE by the intestine during
fasting and postprandial states, we conducted studies in which
differentiated Caco-2 cells were supplemented with radiolabeled retinol
under conditions that support (postprandial) or do not support
(fasting) chylomicron secretion (13)
. After uptake, cells
store retinol in both esterified and unesterified forms. Under fasting
conditions, cells secrete variable amounts of free retinol, mainly
unassociated with lipoproteins. However, under postprandial conditions,
these cells secreted significant amounts of retinyl esters, mainly with
chylomicrons. The secretion of retinyl esters with chylomicrons was
independent of the rate of uptake of retinol and intracellular free and
esterified retinol levels, and was dependent on the assembly and
secretion of chylomicrons. The secretion of retinyl esters was
correlated with the secretion of chylomicrons and not with total
apolipoprotein B secretion. Inhibition of chylomicron secretion by
Pluronic L81 decreased the secretion of retinyl esters and did not
result in their increased secretion with smaller lipoproteins. These
data strongly suggest that retinyl ester secretion by intestinal cells
is a highly specific and regulated process that is dependent on the
assembly and secretion of chylomicrons. Our data also indicate that
retinyl ester incorporation into chylomicrons is not a passive process
but is an exquisitely orchestrated event. Retinyl ester secretion does
not occur at all times. It is induced when cells can assemble and
secrete chylomicrons. Thus, it appears that intestinal cells may have a
specific mechanism for the targeting of retinyl esters to nascent
chylomicrons. These cells appear to wait for the assembly of
chylomicrons before secreting retinyl esters.
Chylomicron assembly requires apoB48, microsomal triglyceride transfer
protein (MTP), phospholipids and triglycerides and occurs in the
endoplasmic reticulum (35
36
37)
. ApoB48 is a structural
protein for the assembly of these lipoproteins, whereas MTP is required
for the lipidation of apoB48. We have provided evidence to suggest that
different lipids are added onto apoB48 in discrete events during the
formation of these lipoproteins (13
,36
37
38)
. First, large
amounts of preformed phospholipids, probably from the membranes of the
endoplasmic reticulum, are added onto nascent apoB polypeptides to form
"primordial lipoproteins." In the second event, newly synthesized
triglycerides are added in bulk to form "nascent lipoproteins." It
appears that retinyl esters are added after chylomicron assembly as a
final event of lipoprotein maturation just before secretion. Due to the
specificity of the secretion of retinyl esters, we propose that retinyl
esters can be used as signposts for the final stages of
chylomicron assembly (36
,37)
.
The literature reviewed above suggests that the intestinal digestion and absorption of vitamin A is a highly complex process, and that a number of enzymes and other proteins participate in the process. Mice deficient in one or more proteins may define the redundancy and absolute requirement of various proteins in retinyl ester metabolism. In addition, overexpression of specific proteins might lead to better understanding of the role of individual proteins in vitamin A absorption. The development of highly specific inhibitors could also shed light on these issues. Furthermore, understanding the mechanisms of retinyl ester absorption may shed light on the mechanisms involved in the assembly and secretion of chylomicrons. Knowledge about the absorption of vitamin A may be valuable in studying the absorption of other fat-soluble micronutrients.
| FOOTNOTES |
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2 Manuscript received 11 January 2001. ![]()
4 Abbreviations used: apo, apolipoprotein; ARAT, acyl-CoA:retinol acyltransferase; CEL, carboxyl ester lipase; CELKO, CEL knock out; CRBP, cellular retinol-binding protein; KO, knockout; LRAT, lecithin:retinol acyltransferase; MTP, microsomal triglyceride transfer protein; PLRP, pancreatic lipase-related protein; PTL, pancreatic triglyceride lipase; REH, retinyl ester hydrolase. ![]()
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