Acidic extracellular pH promotes accumulation of free cholesterol in human monocyte-derived macrophages via inhibition of ACAT1 activity

In focal areas of advanced human atherosclerotic lesions, the intimal fluid is acidic. An acidic medium impairs the ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux from macrophages, so tending to increase their content of free cholesterol, which is then available for esterification by the macrophage enzyme ACAT1. Here we investigated whether low extracellular pH would affect the activity of ACAT1.

Source: Atherosclerosis - September 6, 2020 Category: Cardiology Authors: Miriam Lee-Rueckert, Jani Lappalainen, Hannele Leinonen, Riia Plihtari, Tommy Nordstr öm, Karl Åkerman, Katariina Öörni, Petri T. Kovanen Source Type: research