Paraoxonase-1 does not reduce or modify oxidation of phospholipids by peroxynitrite

Serum paraoxonase (PON1) is a high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-associated esterase/lactonase implicated to play a role in protection against atherosclerosis. However, the exact mechanism(s) and substrates for PON1 are still uncertain. In this article, we review some of the evidence for PON1ʹs antioxidant activity, as well as our efforts to identify the actual substrates and products for this activity. We originally reported that PON1 had phospholipase activity toward oxidized phosphatidylcholine (J. Biol. Chem. 276:24473–24481; 2001). Subsequently, Marathe et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 278:3937–3947; 2003) reported that this activity was due to a contaminating lipase. However, that article did not replicate the conditions used in our previous study. To address this controversy, we purified serum PON1 by a modified method that separates the paraoxonase activity from an activity detectable as platelet-activating factor acetyl hydrolase (PAF-AH) (Teiber et al., J. Lipid. Res. 2004; Epub ahead of print, PMID 15342686) and reexamined the oxidation of phosphatidylcholine by peroxynitrite using 3-morpholinosydnonimine as a peroxynitrite generator and apolipoprotein AI–phosphatidylcholine– PON1 complexes. The phosphatidylcholines were studied by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. PON1 preparations free of PAF-AH activity showed no phospholipase activity when reconstituted into apolipoprotein AI–phosphatidylcholine complexes. We conclude that PON1 does not affect the accumulation of phosphatidylcholine oxidation products. Further, we have no evidence that PON1 has an intrinsic phospholipase A2 activity toward oxidized phospholipids.