A B S T R Asize from normolipidemic and hyperlipemic subjects with the exception that all fractions from the hyperlipemic subjects contained more R-serine and some, more arginine rich polypeptide. Even in the absence of chylomicrons, the distribution of soluble apoproteins in particles of diameters greater than 700-800 A was usually similar to that of the smallest particles. This suggests that the largest particles may include products of the partial catabolism of chylomicrons.
INTRODUCTIONThe protein moiety of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL)1 of human serum contains several discrete polypeptides. One of the predominant species, apolipoprotein B (apoB), which appears to be identical with the major apoprotein of low density lipoprotein (LDL) (1), is insoluble in aqueous buffers after delipidation. Several water-soluble polypeptides denoted by their carboxyl termini as the "R-serine," "R-glutamic acid," and "R-alanine" species (2-4) and a major apoprotein, rich in arginine (5) (8) and provides the basis for determination of apoB content by selective precipitation. Under carefully controlled conditions the soluble apoproteins, after delipidation by TMU, migrate quantitatively within reproducible Rf zones upon electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels. Conditions of staining and destaining have been found which provide linearity of photometric response over a wide range for all the major soluble apoproteins. Determination of the absolute chromogenicity of the purified apoproteins permits quantitation of each in the electrophoretic gels. The distribution of the major apoproteins is presented for whole human serum VLDL from normolipidemic subjects and for fractions of VLDL of different particle diameters.
METHODS
MaterialsReagents were as described previously (8) except that TMU was redistilled monthly in glass and stored under nitrogen in the dark at 3°C. TMU which is suitably purified has a pH of 6.0-7.0 when diluted fivefold wih water.Amidoschwarz lOB, lot no. 0766421, was from the Allied Chemical Corp., Morristown, N. J. VLDL (d < 1.006) and LDL (1.024 < d < 1.050) were prepared from serum obtained from subjects who had fasted for at least 14 h by repetitive ultracentrifugation as described previously (8). All lipoprotein solutions contained EDTA (1 mM) and sodium azide (0.2 mg/ml).All normolipidemic donors were healthy students and hospital personnel between 20 and 60 yr of age, with serum levels of cholesterol and triglyceride below 250 and 140 mg/dl, respectively. To avoid preselection bias, blood was drawn for the preparation of whole VLDL and VLDL subfractions from putative normal donors without pretesting. Preparations from all subjects with serum lipid levels below the limits given above were then studied. Subjects with hyperlipemia were free of known causes of secondary hyperlipidemia or serious disease other than atherosclerotic vascular disease or gout. Serum was examined for chylomicrons after standing overnight at 3°C (9) and by electrophoresis in agarose gel (10). Samples containing detectible chylo...