The α-defensins stimulate proteoglycan-dependent catabolism of low-density lipoprotein by vascular cells : a new class of inflammatory apolipoprotein and a possible contributor to atherogenesis

Inflammation may contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. On the basis of previous reports that human atherosclerotic lesions contain α-defensins, a class of cationic proteins released by activated neutrophils, the study was designed to ask whether defensins modulate the binding and catabolism of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) by human vascular cells. The results of the study demonstrated that defensin stimulated the binding of 125I-LDL to cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and fibroblasts approximately 5-fold in a dose-dependent and saturable manner. Defensin and LDL formed stable complexes in solution and on cell surfaces. Stimulation of LDL binding by defensin was not inhibited by antibodies against the LDL-receptor (LDL-R), or by recombinant receptor-associated protein, which blocks binding of ligands to the α2-macroglobulin receptor/LDL-R–related protein and other LDL-R family members. Furthermore, defensin stimulated the binding, endocytosis, and degradation of LDL by fibroblasts lacking LDL-R. Stimulation of LDL degradation by defensin was inhibited approximately 75% by low concentrations of heparin (0.2 units/mL) and was similarly reduced in CHO cells lacking heparan-sulfate–containing proteoglycans. The effect of defensin was substantially increased in cells overexpressing the core protein of the syndecan-1 heparan sulfate proteoglycan. The α-defensins released from activated neutrophils may provide a link between inflammation and atherosclerosis by changing the pattern of LDL catabolism from LDL-R to the less efficient LDL-R–independent, proteoglycan-dependent pathway.