Polymyxin B enhances low density lipoprotein catabolism in hepatic and extrahepatic cells.

We investigated the effects of polymyxin B (PMB), an antibiotic that binds to endotoxins, on the uptake and degradation of low density lipoproteins (LDLs) in HepG2 cells, a highly differentiated human hepatoma cell line. The results showed that PMB very effectively enhanced the binding, internalization, and degradation of LDL in HepG2 cells. The PMB-mediated enhancement of LDL uptake was not dependent on the LDL receptor-mediated pathway, as blockage of the LDL receptor by use of a monoclonal anti-LDL receptor antibody had no effect on the PMB-mediated cellular processing of LDL and PMB-mediated enhancement of LDL uptake did not cause an increase in cholesterol esterification. In addition, chloroquine and colchicine, which inhibit lysosomal degradation and cellular endocytosis, respectively, diminished PMB-enhanced degradation of LDL, indicating that PMB mediates uptake through a pathway similar to the LDL receptor-mediated pathway. The PMB-mediated uptake of LDL was sensitive to treatment with phospholipase C and pronase and was dependent on the presence of Ca2+. PMB caused similar changes in human skin fibroblasts, bovine smooth muscle cells, and bovine endothelial cells, which suggests that PMB-enhanced LDL uptake is a general cellular phenomenon. Our results thus indicate that PMB increases cellular catabolism of LDL through an endocytotic pathway not involving the LDL receptors.