The major protein constituent of human plasma high density lipoproteins has been isolated and its complete amino-acid sequence determined. The protein, designated apolipoprotein-glutamine-I by the presence of carboxyl-terminal glutamine, is a single polypeptide chain of 245 amino-acid residues, including three residues of methionine. The protein is devoid of cysteine, cystine, and isoleucine. Cleavage of apolipoprotein-glutamine-I with cyanogen bromide yields four fragments with 94, 90, 36, and 25 amino acids. The amino-acid sequence of each fragment was determined by conventional methods, with proteolytic digestion with trypsin, chymotrypsin, and thermolysin. The alignment of the cyanogen bromide fragments was determined by the isolation of the methionine-containing tryptic peptides from apolipoprotein-glutamine-I.Inspection of the sequence of apolipoprotein-glutamine-I suggests an interesting distribution of amino acids that may account for its helical structure and its ability to bind and transport lipid.Human plasma high density lipoproteins (HDL) have been shown to contain two major apoprotein components that account for 90% of the total protein of the family (1, 2). These two proteins, designated apolipoprotein-glutamine-I (apoLPGln-I) and apolipoprotein-glutamine-II (apoLP-Gln-II), have been extensively characterized in several laboratories, and their physiochemical and lipid-binding properties have been recently reviewed (3-6). The amino-acid sequence of apoLPGln-II is known (7-9). It contains two identical monomeric units of 77 amino acids each; the units are linked by a single disulfide bond.In the present communication, we describe the complete amino-acid sequence of the other major HDL apoprotein, apoLP-Gln-I. The protein contains 245 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 28,331. This new sequence information, coupled with that of apoLP-Gln-II and of apoLPAla (10) and apoLP-Ser (11, 12) from the very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), permits speculation as to the structural features of the plasma apoproteins that might account for their ability to bind and transport lipid. A theory to explain this ability has been recently presented (13).
MATERIALS AND METHODSIsolation of ApoLP-Gln-l. Human plasma HDL was isolated by ultracentrifugal flotation between densities 1.063 and 1.210 g/ml, as described (14). Lipid-free HDL (apoHDL) Abbreviations: VLDL, very low density lipoproteins; HDL, high density lipoproteins; apoLP-Gln-I (A-I) and apoLP-Gln-II (All), the two major apoproteins of human HDL, each with carboxyl-terminal glutamine; and apoLP-Ala (C-III) and apoLPSer (C-I), two apoproteins from human VLDL, with carboxylterminal alanine and serine, respectively. 3631 was prepared by delipidation of the lipoprotein with diethyl ether-ethanol (3: 1). ApoLP-Gln-I was isolated from apoHDL by a combination of gel filtration and DEAE-cellulose chromatography, as described (15).Sequence Strategy. The complete amino-acid sequence of apoLP-Gln-I was established from the four cyanogen bromide fragme...