Murine macrophage RAW264 were investigated for their response to lipid-free apolipoproteins.Preincubation of the cells with 300
M dibutyryl cyclic (dBc) AMP for 16 h induced specific binding ofapolipoprotein (apo) A-I to the cells and apoA-I-mediated HDL formation with cellular lipids, neither ofwhich was detected in the absence of dBcAMP. Dose-dependent changes of the apoA-I specific bindingand the apoA-I-mediated cholesterol release were largely superimposable. ApoA-II also mediated lipidrelease after the treatment of the cells with dBcAMP and effectively displaced the apoA-I binding to thecells. In contrast, cellular cholesterol efflux to lipid microemulsion and to 2-(hydroxypropyl)-
-cyclodextrinwas uninfluenced by the dBcAMP treatment. To induce the cellular reactivity with apoA-I, the incubationwith dBcAMP required at least 6 h. Actinomycin D, cycloheximide, puromycin, and brefeldin A suppressedboth the induction of apoA-I-mediated lipid release and the apoA-I specific binding to the cells. Analysisof the expression level of
ABC1 mRNA by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction andoligonucleotide arrays revealed that
ABC1 mRNA was already expressed in the dBcAMP-untreated cells,and the dBcAMP treatment for 16 h enhanced its expression 9-13-fold. We conclude that dBcAMPselectively induces apolipoprotein-mediated cellular lipid release and accordingly high-density lipoproteingeneration by inducing specific binding of apolipoprotein, but does not influence diffusion-mediated lipidefflux. The cell-apolipoprotein interaction seems to depend on cellular protein biosynthesis and transport.A substantial increase in the level of
ABC1 mRNA caused by the dBcAMP treatment indicates that ATP-binding cassette transporter 1, the protein product of
ABC1, may directly be responsible for the interaction,but the question about the absence of the interaction with its baseline expression level remains.