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. 1974 Oct;144(1):59–68. doi: 10.1042/bj1440059

The metabolic sequence by which some 4,4-dimethyl sterols are converted into cholesterol

Geoffrey F Gibbons 1
PMCID: PMC1168464  PMID: 4462576

Abstract

Cholest-8(14)-enol is the major radioactive component of the 4-di-demethyl sterol fraction biosynthesized from 4,4-dimethyl[2-3H2]cholest-8(14)-enol by rat liver microsomal fractions, and therefore the first steps in the biosynthesis of cholesterol from the latter compound probably involve removal of the 4-methyl groups. 4,4-Dimethylcholesta-8,14-dienol therefore is not an intermediate in this process, although its presence in the incubation medium at a concentration of 0.146mm almost completely inhibits the demethylation of 4,4-dimethyl[2-3H2]cholest-8(14)-enol. Nor is cholesta-8,14-dienol an intermediate in the conversion of cholest-8(14)-enol into cholest-7-enol and cholesterol. With 4,4-dimethyl[2-3H2]cholesta-8,14-dienol as the cholesterol precursor, 4,4-dimethylcholest-8(9)-enol becomes heavily labelled and there is very little radioactivity associated with cholesta-8,14-dienol.In this case, the most heavily labelled 4-di-demethyl sterols are cholest-7-enol and cholesterol with the former predominating. There is little or no radio-activity associated with cholest-8(14)-enol. A similar labelling pattern amongst the 4-di-demethyl sterols was observed with dihydro[14C]lanosterol as the precursor. The first step therefore in the synthesis of cholesterol from the 4,4-dimethyl[2-3H2]dienol is reduction of the Δ14(15) bond and not removal of the 4α-methyl group. Depending on the nature of the precursor, addition of the soluble fraction of the cell to the microsomal fraction resulted in a two- to four-fold stimulation of 4-di-demethyl sterol biosynthesis from the 4,4-dimethyl sterols studied. Under these conditions, 4,4-dimethylcholesta-8,14-dienol is the most efficient precursor of cholesterol and cholest-7-enol, and dihydrolanosterol is better than 4,4-dimethylcholest-8(14)-enol.

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Selected References

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