Disruption of autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia gene shows different phenotype in vitro and in vivo

We previously characterized the patients with autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia (ARH) as having severe hypercholesterolemia and retarded plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) clearance despite normal LDL receptor ( LDLR) function in their cultured fibroblasts, and we identified a mutation in the ARH locus in these patients. ARH protein is an adaptor protein of the LDL and reportedly modulates its internalization. We developed ARH knockout mice (ARH(-/-)) to study the function of this protein. Plasma total cholesterol level was higher in ARH(-/-) mice than that in wild-type mice (ARH(+/+)), being attributed to a 6-fold increase of LDL, whereas plasma lipoprotein was normal in the heterozygotes (ARH(+/-)). Clearance of I-125-LDL from plasma was retarded in ARH(-/-) mice, as much as that found in LDLR-/- mice. Fluorescence activity of the intravenously injected 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiI)-LDL was recovered in the cytosol of the hepatocytes of ARH(+/+) mice, but not in those of ARH(-/-) or LDLR-/- mice. Also, less radioactivity was recovered in the liver of ARH(-/-) or LDLR-/- mice when [H-3]cholesteryl oleyl ether (CE)-labeled LDL was injected. In contrast, uptakes of [H-3]CE-labeled LDL, I-125-LDL, and DiI-LDL were all normal or slightly subnormal when the ARH(-/-) hepatocytes were cultured. We thus concluded that the function of the hepatic LDLR is impaired in the ARH(-/-) mice in vivo, despite its normal function in vitro. These findings were consistent with the observations with the ARH homozygous patients and suggested that certain cellular environmental factors modulate the requirement of ARH for the LDLR function.