Biosynthesis of Cholesterol from Squalene

Figure 19.18 Biosynthesis of cholesterol from squalene. (Reproduced by permission from Vance DE, Vance JE. Biochemistry of Lipids and Membranes. Menlo Park Benjamin/ Cummings, 1985, p. 412.)...

The biosynthesis of cholesterol from squalene was examined. Using model structures and intrinsic reaction coordinate calculations, evidence was reported for the asynchronous, concerted reaction of squalene oxide to the protosterol cation. 

In the biosynthesis of cholesterol from acetate and its multiples, hydroxylases are not thought to participate until the conversion of the lengthy squalene chain to lanosterol. This transformation is a magnificent and classic example of a reaction which was predicted on theoretical grounds and then proven through extensive laboratory investigation. Two excellent reviews on the pathways in the biosynthesis of cholesterol have appeared in recent literature, those of Cornforth et al. (1959) and Popjak and Cornforth (1960), and the reader is referred to these for more detailed information. 

Cholesterol is one of the isoprenoids, synthesis of which starts from acetyl CoA (see p. 52). In a long and complex reaction chain, the C27 sterol is built up from C2 components. The biosynthesis of cholesterol can be divided into four sections. In the first (1), mevalonate, a Ce compound, arises from three molecules of acetyl CoA. In the second part (2), mevalonate is converted into isopen-tenyl diphosphate, the active isoprene. In the third part (3), six of these C5 molecules are linked to produce squalene, a C30 compound. Finally, squalene undergoes cycliza-tion, with three C atoms being removed, to yield cholesterol (4). The illustration only shows the most important intermediates in biosynthesis. 

Trifluoromethyl ketones and alcohol derivatives of squalene have been prepared in order to inhibit squalene epoxycyclase. This important enzyme regulates the biosynthesis of cholesterol. It bears a cysteine in its active site. Although these compounds have been shown to be good inhibitors, the involved mechanism is different from what was expected. Indeed, they do not inhibit squalene epoxycyclase, but they are substrates of this enzyme and are transformed into fluorohydroxysterols. The repression of the expression of HMG-CoA reductase is responsible for the observed inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis. This repression comes from the back-regulation that is exerted by fluorohydroxysterols. Indeed, these compounds induce an important diminution of the cell activity of HMG-CoA reductase (Figure 7.66). °... 

Goodman, D.S., and Popjak, G. (1960). Studies on the biosynthesis of cholesterol Xll. Synthesis of allyl pyrophosphates from mevalonate and their conversion into squalene with liver enzymes. J Lipid Res 1 286-300. 

Animals accumulate cholesterol from their diet, but are also able to biosynthesize it from acetate. The pioneering work that identified the key intermediates in the complicated pathway of cholesterol biosynthesis was carried out by Konrad Bloch (Harvard) and Feodor Lynen (Munich), corecipients of the 1964 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. An important discovery was that the triterpene squalene (see Figure 26.6) is an intermediate in the formation of cholesterol from acetate. Thus, the early stages of cholesterol biosynthesis are the same as those of terpene biosynthesis described in Sections... 

Cholesterol and many of its biosynthetic precursors are highly insoluble in aqueous media. Yet, cholesterol biosynthesis, utilization and intracellular transfers occur in environments which involve both aqueous and nonaqueous components. For example, the enzymes involved in the conversion of squalene to cholesterol, the conversion of cholesterol to cholesterol esters, and the conversion of cholesterol to 7a-hydroxycholesterol are associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (microsomes). The conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone, an essential first step in steroid hormone biosynthesis, occurs in mitochondria. In addition, transfers of cholesterol from cytoplasmic lipid inclusion droplets through the cytosol to the mitochondria are essential for steroid hormone production. 

The conversion of famesyl pyrophosphate to squalene marks the transition from water-soluble to water-insoluble intermediates in the biosynthesis of cholesterol. When the effect of liver cytosol or SCPj on the conversion of famesyl pyrophosphate to squalene was investigated, neither rat liver cytosol nor partially purified SCPj had any significant effect on this conversion [23]. Therefore, microsomal squalene synthetase performs its catalytic function without responding to the mediating effect of any specific soluble protein. 

The endergonic biosynthetic pathway described above is located entirely in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. The energy needed comes from the CoA derivatives used and from ATP. The reducing agent in the formation of mevalonate and squalene, as well as in the final steps of cholesterol biosynthesis, is NADPH+H ... 

Most animal steroids arise from cholesterol, which in turn is derived from squalene. This C30 triterpene, whose biosynthesis is described in Section B, is named after the dogfish Squalus in whose liver it accumulates as a result of blockage in oxidation to cholesterol. Squalene is also a prominent constituent of human skin lipids. Its conversion to cholesterol, which takes place in most animal tissues,117/154-156 is initiated by a microsomal enzyme system that utilized 02 and NAD-PH to form squalene 2,3-oxide (Fig. 22-6, step a). 

Cholesterol is both absorbed from the intestinal tract and synthesized from acetate via squalene, principally in the liver. The quantities produced are substantial. Daily biosynthesis is 600 mg, and dietary uptake may supply another 300 mg.182 Not only is there a large amount of cholesterol in the brain and... 

The evidence is strong that the biosynthesis of lanosterol actually proceeds by a route of this type. With squalene made from either methyl- or carboxyl-labeled ethanoate, all the carbons of lanosterol and cholesterol are labeled just... 

Cholesterol is synthesized in the body from squalene, a C30 triterpene that is itself prepared from smaller terpenes, as discussed in Section 29.7B. Because the biosynthesis of all terpenes begins with acetyl CoA, every one of the 27 carbon atoms of cholesterol comes from the same two-caibon precursor. The major steps in the conversion of squalene to cholesterol are given in Figure 29.11. 

Cholesterol is synthesized mainly in the liver by a three-stage process. All 27 carbon atoms in the cholesterol molecule are derived from acetyl-CoA. The first stage is the synthesis of the activated five-carbon isoprene unit, isopentenyl pyrophosphate. Six molecules of isopentenyl pyrophosphate then condense to form squalene in a sequence of reactions that also synthesize isoprenoid intermediates that are important in protein isoprenylation modifications. The characteristic four-ring structure of cholesterol is then formed by cycUzing of the linear squalene molecule. Several demethylations, the reduction of a double bond, and the migration of another double bond result in the formation of cholesterol. Figure 34-1 provides an overview of cholesterol biosynthesis. 

The squalestatins, e.g. 6.28, also known as the zaragozic adds, have attracted considerable interest as inhibitors of squalene synthase and hence of cholesterol biosynthesis and lipid deposition in the circulatory system. They are also inhibitors of farnesyl protein transferase and thus they may have other potentially useful biological applications. They are formed by Phoma spedes and also by Setosphaeria khartoumensis. The squalestatins are characterized by a dioxabicyclo-octane core bearing three carboxyl groups and two polyketide chains, one of which is attached as an ester. The biosynthetic incorporation of succinic acid into part of the bicyclo-octane, together with its oxygenation pattern, indicate that it may be derived via oxaloacetic acid. Both the polyketide chains have several pendant methyl groups attached to them, which arise from methionine, whilst benzoic add ads as a starter unit for one of the chains. These complex structures are thus the summation of several biosynthetic pathways. 

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a cell which shows the known sites in which sterol carrier proteins are involved in cholesterol biosynthesis, utilization and intracellular transfer. SCP, participates in the conversion of squalene to lanosterol and SCP2 participates in the conversion of lanosterol to cholesterol, the conversion of cholesterol to cholesterol ester by ACAT, and probably also in the conversion of cholesterol to 7a-hydroxycholesterol. SCPj transfers cholesterol from cytoplasmic lipid inclusion droplets to mitochondria in the adrenal and SCPj also translocates cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane. 

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