ANALYSIS OF THE BINDING AND ASSOCIATION OF HUMAN INTERMEDIATE DENSITY LIPOPROTEINS TO HEPG2 CELLS

The binding of human intermediate density lipoproteins (IDL) to HepG2 cells was studied. We found that human I-125-IDL interact with a binding site of high-affinity (K(d) 0.74 /mug/ml, B(max) 0.049 mug/mg cell protein) and a binding site of lower affinity (K(d) 86.8 mug/ml; B(max) 0.53 mug/mg cell protein). The high-affinity binding sites show characteristics of LDL-receptors since they interact with IDL and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and are calcium dependent. The low-affinity binding sites are calcium-independent and interact with IDL, LDL, high density lipoproteins-3 (HDL3), apolipoprotein (apo) E-liposomes, apoCs-liposomes, apoA-I-liposomes but not with liposomes containing albumin or erythrocyte membrane proteins. Therefore, HepG2 cells have on their surface a binding site that resembles or is identical to the lipoprotein binding site (LBS) that we found on rat liver membranes (Brissette and Noel (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 6847-6852). Internalization, degradation and cholesterol ester selective uptake were determined in the presence or in the absence of a sufficient amount of human HDL3 to abolish the interaction of IDL to the LBS in order to obtain information on the function of this site. Our results suggest that the LBS participates in the internalization of IDL but not in their degradation and that it is responsible for the selective uptake of cholesterol esters of IDL.