In humans, the plasma concentration of HDLs has been repeatedly shown to be inversely correlated with the risk of developing coronary heart disease ( 1, 2 ). The concentrations of plasma HDL has been shown to be largely dependent on hepatic ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) ( 3-5 ), which transports and promotes the effl ux of glycerophosphocholine (PC), free cholesterol (FC), and sphingomyelin (SM) to wild-type apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), resulting in the formation of nascent HDLs (nHDLs). Functional mutations in human ABCA1 cause Tangier disease ( 6, 7 ), which is characterized by very low levels of plasma HDL apoA-I. Tangier disease is believed to alter a process termed "reverse cholesterol transport." Although defects in ABCA1 function have been identifi ed by Abstract This report details the lipid composition of nascent HDL (nHDL) particles formed by the action of the ATP binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) on apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I). nHDL particles of different size (average diameters of ف 12, 10, 7.5, and <6 nm) and composition were purifi ed by size-exclusion chromatography. Electron microscopy suggested that the nHDL were mostly spheroidal. The proportions of the principal nHDL lipids, free cholesterol, glycerophosphocholine, and sphingomyelin were similar to that of lipid rafts, suggesting that the lipid originated from a raft-like region of the cell. Smaller amounts of glucosylceramides, cholesteryl esters, and other glycerophospholipid classes were also present. The largest particles, ف 12 nm and 10 nm diameter, contained ف 43% free cholesterol, 2-3% cholesteryl ester, and three apoA-I molecules. Using chemical cross-linking chemistry combined with mass spectrometry, we found that three molecules of apoA-I in the ف 9-14 nm nHDL adopted a belt-like conformation. The smaller (7.5 nm diameter) spheroidal nHDL particles carried 30% free cholesterol and two molecules of apoA-I in a twisted, antiparallel, double-belt conformation. Overall, these new data offer fresh insights into the biogenesis and structural constraints involved in forming nascent HDL from ABCA1 . -Sorci-Thomas, M. G., J. S. Owen, B. Fulp, S. Bhat, These studies were supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health grants and Abbreviations: BMDM, bone marrow-derived macrophage; CE, cholesteryl ester; DSP, dithiobis(succinimidylpropionate) ; EM, electron microscopy; FC, free cholesterol; FPLC, fast protein liquid chromatography; GP, glycerophospholipids; HEK, human embryonic kidney; HexCer; hexosylceramides; LPC, lyso-glycerophosphocholine; MSCE, mass spectrometer collision energy; NDGGE, nondenaturing gradient gel electrophoresis; nHDL, nascent HDL; PC, glycerophosphocholine; PE, glycerophospho ethanolamine; PG, glycerophosphoglycerol; PI, glyerophos phoinositol; PM, plasma membrane; POPC, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine; PS, glycerophosphoserine; rHDL, recombinant HDL; RT, room temperature; SL, sphingolipid; TC, total cholesterol.1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail...