Identification of Side Chain Oxidized Sterols as Novel Liver X Receptor Agonists with Therapeutic Potential in the Treatment of Cardiovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Na Zhan, Boyang Wang, Nikita Martens, Yankai Liu, Shangge Zhao, Gardi Voortman, Jeroen van Rooij, Frank Leijten, Tim Vanmierlo, Folkert Kuipers, Johan W. Jonker, Vincent W. Bloks, Dieter Lütjohann, Marcella Palumbo, Francesca Zimetti, Maria Pia Adorni, Hongbing Liu*, Monique T. Mulder*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

The nuclear receptors—liver X receptors (LXR α and β) are potential therapeutic targets in cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases because of their key role in the regulation of lipid homeostasis and inflammatory processes. Specific oxy(phyto)sterols differentially modulate the transcriptional activity of LXRs providing opportunities to develop compounds with improved therapeutic characteristics. We isolated oxyphytosterols from Sargassum fusiforme and synthesized sidechain oxidized sterol derivatives. Five 24-oxidized sterols demonstrated a high potency for LXRα/β activation in luciferase reporter assays and induction of LXR-target genes APOE, ABCA1 and ABCG1 involved in cellular cholesterol turnover in cultured cells: methyl 3β-hydroxychol-5-en-24-oate (S1), methyl (3β)-3-aldehydeoxychol-5-en-24-oate (S2), 24-ketocholesterol (S6), (3β,22E)-3-hydroxycholesta-5,22-dien-24-one (N10) and fucosterol-24,28 epoxide (N12). These compounds induced SREBF1 but not SREBP1c-mediated lipogenic genes such as SCD1, ACACA and FASN in HepG2 cells or astrocytoma cells. Moreover, S2 and S6 enhanced cholesterol efflux from HepG2 cells. All five oxysterols induced production of the endogenous LXR agonists 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol by upregulating the CYP46A1, encoding the enzyme converting cholesterol into 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol; S1 and S6 may also act via the upregulation of desmosterol production. Thus, we identified five novel LXR-activating 24-oxidized sterols with a potential for therapeutic applications in neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1290
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume24
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers: 81973433), Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers: ZR2018MH041), Alzheimer Nederland (grant numbers: WE.03-2018-06 AN), and NWO-TTW (grant numbers: #16437).

Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from China Scholarship Council (File No. 201906330056).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.

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