Acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase-2 (ACAT-2) is responsible for elevated intestinal ACAT activity in diabetic rats.

OBJECTIVE Diabetes-induced dyslipidemia is seen in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. This is caused, in part, by elevated intestinal acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity. Because two ACAT isozymes (ACAT-1 and ACAT-2) were identified, in the present study we determined which ACAT isozyme was involved in the elevated intestinal ACAT activity in diabetic rats. METHODS AND RESULTS We cloned a full-length cDNA of rat ACAT-2. Its overexpression in ACAT-deficient AC29 cells demonstrated that the ACAT activity is derived from the cloned cDNA, and a 45-kDa protein of rat ACAT-2 cross-reacts with an anti-human ACAT-2 antibody. The tissue distribution of rat ACAT-2 mRNA revealed its restricted expression to liver and small intestine. Immunohistochemical analyses using an anti-human ACAT-2 antibody demonstrated that ACAT-2 is localized in villus-crypt axis of rat small intestine. The intestinal ACAT activity in diabetic rats was significantly immunodepleted by an anti-ACAT-2 antibody but not by an anti-ACAT-1 antibody. Finally, intestinal ACAT-2 in diabetic rats significantly increased at both protein and mRNA levels as compared with that in control rats. CONCLUSIONS Our data demonstrate that ACAT-2 isozyme is responsible for the increased intestinal ACAT activity of diabetic rats, suggesting an important role of ACAT-2 for dyslipidemia in diabetic patients. Diabetic rats exhibit dyslipidemia caused, in part, by elevated intestinal acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity. We determined which ACAT isozyme (ACAT-1 or ACAT-2) was involved in the elevated intestinal ACAT activity in diabetic rats. We demonstrated an important role of ACAT-2, implicating its involvement in dyslipidemia in diabetic patients.