Biomedical subjects

M C Phillips

Publications and source records attributed to M C Phillips.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

PubMed1991

Cholesterol efflux from cells to immunopurified subfractions of human high density lipoprotein: LP-AI and LP-AI/AII.

Using immunoaffinity chromatography, we separated human high density lipoprotein (HDL) into two subfractions: LP-AI, in which all particles contain apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) but no apoA-II, and LP-AI/AII, in which all particles contain both apoA-I and apoA-II. To compare LP-AI and LP-AI/AII as acceptors of cell cholesterol, the isolated subfractions were diluted to 50 micrograms phospholipid/ml, and then incubated with monolayer cultures of cells in which whole-cell and lysosomal cholesterol has been labeled with 14C and 3H, respectively. We used three cell types (Fu5AH rat hepatoma cells, normal human skin fibroblasts, and rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells). When these cells were prepared to contain normal physiological quantities of cholesterol (20-35 micrograms/mg protein), LP-AI and LP-AI/AII were nearly equally efficient in promoting efflux of both whole-cell and lysosomal cholesterol. For whole-cell cholesterol, the rate constants for efflux to LP-AI and LP-AI/AII were: 0.050/h and 0.053/h, respectively, with Fu5AH cells; 0.0063/h and 0.0074/h with GM3468 human skin fibroblasts; and 0.0076/h and 0.0079/h with rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells. When cholesterol in hepatoma cells or fibroblasts was elevated two- to threefold above normal, there was still not difference in efflux of whole-cell cholesterol to LP-AI and LP-AI/AII. In longterm incubations, the net depletion of cholesterol mass from cholesterol-enriched cells was either identical with the two HDL subfractions, or somewhat greater with LP-AI/AII.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Effects of membrane lipid composition on the kinetics of cholesterol exchange between lipoproteins and different species of red blood cells.

To better understand the effects of plasma membrane structure on the kinetics of cellular cholesterol efflux to extracellular lipoprotein particles, the influence of plasma membrane sphingomyelin (SM) on the kinetics of cholesterol exchange was examined in both a model membrane system comprised of egg SM/egg phosphatidylcholine (PC) unilamellar vesicles and in various types of mammalian red blood cells (RBC) containing differing levels of SM. The kinetics and mechanism of the bidirectional flux of unesterified cholesterol (FC) between RBC and lipoproteins were established by using human RBC (labeled with [14C]FC) incubated with varying concentrations of human [3H]FC high-density lipoprotein (HDL3) or [3H]FC low-density lipoprotein (LDL). A maximal rate constant for FC efflux was obtained when the lipoprotein FC was in excess (6-fold and 15-fold, for HDL3 and LDL, respectively) of RBC FC; under this condition, the rate-limiting step is desorption of cholesterol molecules from the RBC membrane into the extracellular aqueous phase. At 37 degrees C, the halftime (t1/2) for efflux was 4.6 +/- 0.6 h for HDL3 and 6.2 +/- 0.2 h for LDL; FC efflux exhibited first-order kinetics and the RBC FC comprised a single kinetic pool. To investigate the effect of different membrane SM/PC ratios on the rate of FC desorption from the plasma membrane, the kinetics of cholesterol efflux from bovine RBC (5:1, w/w ratio of SM/PC), human RBC (1:1 ratio), rabbit RBC (0.6:1 ratio) and rat RBC (0.3:1 ratio) were compared. With excess HDL3 present, bovine, rabbit, and rat RBC exhibited t1/2 of 5.5 +/- 0.8, 4.0 +/- 0.2, and 3.7 +/- 0.6 h, respectively, for cholesterol efflux. Changing the ratio from 0.3:1 to 3:1 in egg SM/egg PC small unilamellar vesicles increased the t1/2 for cholesterol efflux at 45 degrees C from 1.1 to 6.9 h. The results described in this paper suggest that increasing membrane SM content raises the t1/2 for cholesterol exchange in both the RBC plasma membrane and in simple mixed SM/PC bilayers. However, the influence of SM is less in the natural plasma membrane, perhaps because of modulating factors such as membrane proteins and the presence of a complex phospholipid mixture.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Nuclear magnetic resonance investigation of the interactions with phospholipid of an amphipathic alpha-helix-forming peptide of the apolipoprotein class.

To further understand the packing of amphipathic alpha-helices of apolipoproteins in serum lipoproteins, we have investigated the interactions with dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) of a 13C-labeled, 18-residue peptide (18A) which can form an amphipathic alpha-helix. This peptide whose amino acid sequence is DWLKAFYDKVAEKLKEAF has the positive-negative residue clustering typical of the apolipoprotein class of amphipathic helix. 13CH3-alanine was introduced as the 11th residue of 18A so that the 13CH3 group protrudes on the apolar side of the amphipathic helix. [13C]NMR spectra of [13C-Ala11]18A in discoidal complexes with DMPC show three resonances from the Ala-13CH3 group; one originates from 18A in aqueous solution, while those at chemical shifts (delta) of 15.2 and 16.4 ppm are assigned to 18A in the "edge" and "faces," respectively, of the discoidal complex. The proportion of 18A in the faces of the discoidal complex increases as the size of the disk is increased by raising the lipid/peptide ratio. 18A covers the edge of the disk so that the 13CH3-Ala side chain from these molecules is in contact with DMPC acyl chains. [13C-Ala11]18A bound to the surface of an egg PC small unilamellar vesicle gives a single resonance from 18A at delta 16.3 ppm consistent with there being no edge location. Cooling 18A-DMPC disks to 15 degrees C crystallizes the DMPC bilayer and restricts the motion of the 13CH3-Ala group of the 18A molecules. The molecular motions of the side chains of the amphipathic helix are sensitive to their location in the disk and to PC molecular packing.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1990

Kinetics and mechanism of transfer of reduced and carboxymethylated apolipoprotein A-II between phospholipid vesicles.

The transfer of 14C-labeled, reduced and carboxymethylated human apolipoprotein A-II (RCM-AII) between small unilamellar vesicles (SUV) has been investigated. Ion-exchange chromatography was used for rapid separation of negatively charged egg phosphatidylcholine (PC)/dicetyl phosphate donor SUV containing bound 14C-labeled RCM-AII from neutral egg PC acceptor SUV present in 10-fold molar excess. The kinetics of 14C-labeled RCM-AII transfer in incubations of up to 12 h at 37 degrees C are consistent with the existence of fast, slow, and apparently "nontransferrable" pools of SUV-associated apolipoprotein; the transfers from these pools occur on the time scales of seconds or less, hours, and days/weeks, respectively. For donor SUV (0.15 mg of phospholipid/mL reaction mixture) containing about 15 RCM-AII molecules per vesicle, the sizes of the fast, slow, and nontransferrable pools are 13, 69, and 18%, respectively. The transfer of RCM-AII from the slow kinetic pool follows first-order kinetics, and the half-time (t 1/2) is about 3 h. The different kinetic pools of SUV-associated RCM-AII probably reflect apoprotein in different conformations of the SUV surface. Increasing the number of RCM-AII per donor SUV enlarges the size of the fast pool and increases the t 1/2 of transfer from the slow pool. In contrast, raising the incubation temperature reduces the t 1/2 of slow transfer. The t 1/2 of RCM-AII transfer from the slow kinetic pool is inversely proportional to the acceptor/donor SUV ratio which suggests that the transfer of apoprotein molecules in this kinetic pool is mediated by SUV collisions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Apolipoprotein A-II↗

PubMed1990

The efflux of lysosomal cholesterol from cells.

To gain insight into the transport of sterol from lysosomes to the plasma membrane, we studied the efflux of lysosomal free cholesterol from intact Fu5AH rat hepatoma cells to high density lipoprotein (HDL) and other extracellular acceptors that promote sterol desorption from the plasma membrane. The procedures involved pulsing cells at 15 degrees C with low density lipoprotein that had been reconstituted with [3H]cholesteryl oleate and then incubating the cells at 37 degrees C in the presence of a sterol acceptor, while monitoring both the hydrolysis of [3H]cholesteryl oleate in lysosomes and the efflux of the resulting [3H]free cholesterol to the acceptor. After warming cells to 37 degrees C, rapid hydrolysis of [3H]cholesteryl oleate began after 10-20 min, and the lysosomally generated [3H]free cholesterol became available for efflux after an additional delay of 40-50 min. The kinetics of hydrolysis and the delay between hydrolysis and efflux were unchanged over a wide range of HDL3 concentrations (10-1000 micrograms of protein/ml), and with acceptors that do not interact with HDL-specific cell surface binding sites (phospholipid vesicles, dimethyl suberimidate cross-linked HDL). In addition, the delivery of lysosomal cholesterol to the plasma membrane was unaffected when cellular cholesterol content was elevated 2.6-fold above the normal control level, or when the activity of cellular acyl-coenzyme A/cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) was stimulated with exogenous oleic acid. We conclude that in the Fu5AH cell, a maximum of 40-50 min is required for the transport of cholesterol from lysosomes to the plasma membrane and that this transport is not regulated in response to either specific extracellular acceptors or the content of sterol in cells. The lack of effect of increased ACAT activity implies that the pathway for this transport does not involve passage of sterol through the rough endoplasmic reticulum, the subcellular location of ACAT.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Phase behavior of cholesteryl ester dispersions which model the inclusions of foam cells.

In order to understand the phase behavior of the approximately 1-micron-diameter droplets which occur in the cytoplasm of cholesterol-enriched cells, differential scanning calorimetry has been utilized to elucidate the factors controlling the rate of crystallization of cholesteryl esters. The kinetics of the thermotropic transitions between liquid, liquid-crystal, and crystal states which occur in mixtures of cholesteryl oleate and cholesteryl palmitate present in monodisperse, phospholipid-stabilized, emulsion droplets have been determined and are compared to the characteristics of these transitions in bulk mixtures. Cholesteryl palmitate is observed to crystallize in undercooled phospholipid-stabilized dispersions of cholesteryl palmitate/cholesteryl oleate (50/50 w/w) at temperatures up to 50 degrees C lower than it does in bulk mixtures of the same cholesteryl ester composition. It is postulated that this difference between crystallization temperatures is due primarily to the presence of impurities present in bulk mixtures which act as catalysts that promote crystallization. It is suggested that phospholipid-stabilized dispersions of cholesteryl palmitate/cholesteryl oleate are more appropriate models than bulk mixtures of these cholesteryl esters for studying the kinetic and thermodynamic basis of the phase behavior in cholesteryl ester rich inclusions characteristic of foam cells and atherosclerotic plaque. The thermotropic phase behavior of these dispersions can be satisfactorily analyzed by using the equations of homogeneous nucleation theory. The interfacial tension between the crystal nucleus and the surrounding fluid cholesteryl ester is about 10 erg/cm2.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Effect of substrate physical state on the activity of acid cholesteryl ester hydrolase.

The effects of the physicochemical properties of the substrate vehicle on the activity of acid cholesteryl ester hydrolase (ACEH; EC 3.1.1.13) isolated from rat liver lysosomes have been studied. In particular, the influence of the physical state of the neutral lipid core of substrate emulsion particles on the enzymatic activity has been probed in the light of previous studies on the clearance of cholesteryl esters (CE) from lipid-loaded cells which indicated that inclusions that are in the isotropic (liquid) state can be hydrolyzed faster than those in the anisotropic (liquid-crystalline) state. In the present study, such lipid inclusions were isolated from cultured cells and used as substrates for the hydrolase. No appreciable difference between the hydrolysis rates of isotropic and anisotropic inclusions was observed; the Vmax values were 93.0 +/- 6.7 and 84.0 +/- 3.3 nmol CE/mg.h, respectively. To elucidate the factors which affect the activity of ACEH, model inclusions were prepared by sonication and used as substrates. The physical state of these models was varied in a systematic way by changes of droplet composition and incubation temperature. The rate of hydrolysis was found to be insensitive to the physical state of the core of the model inclusions in good agreement with the results obtained with cellular inclusions. However, the activity of ACEH is sensitive to such interfacial properties of the lipid droplets as surface area available to the enzyme, net surface charge and surface solubility of the substrate CE molecules. The enzymatic activity is also sensitive to the amount of free cholesterol present in the emulsion droplets. The interfacial concentration and molecular packing of substrate CE molecules in the droplet surface significantly affect the hydrolytic activity of ACEH.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Cholesterol packing, crystallization and exchange properties in phosphatidylcholine vesicle systems.

The properties of phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol vesicles have been studied extensively because of their relevance to the behavior of these components in cell membranes. At equilibrium, phosphatidylcholine bilayers are saturated when equimolar levels of cholesterol are incorporated; the cholesterol molecules interfere with the cooperative lateral interactions of the phosphatidylcholine acyl chains and restrict the fluidity relative to pure liquid-crystal phosphatidylcholine bilayers. Mixed cholesterol/phosphatidylcholine bilayers containing more than equimolar cholesterol are metastable; on storage excess cholesterol is released from the vesicles and forms cholesterol monohydrate crystals. This process models the formation of cholesterol gallstones in bile and the growth of the crystals probably involves, at least in part, diffusion of cholesterol molecules from the vesicle bilayer to the crystal surface. The cholesterol-phosphatidylcholine interaction energy in the lipid-water interface of the donor vesicle has a critical effect on the rate of this transfer process.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

The surface properties of apolipoproteins A-I and A-II at the lipid/water interface.

The monolayer system was employed to investigate the relative affinities of apolipoproteins A-I and A-II for the lipid/water interface. The adsorption of reductively 14C-methylated apolipoproteins to phospholipid monolayers spread at the air/water interface was determined by monitoring the surface pressure of the mixed monolayer and the surface concentration of the apoprotein. ApoA-II has a higher affinity than apoA-I for lipid monolayers; for a given initial surface pressure, apoA-II adsorbs more than apoA-I to monolayers of egg phosphatidylcholine (PC), distearoyl-PC and human high-density lipoprotein (HDL3) surface lipids. Comparison of the molecular packing of apolipoproteins A-I and A-II suggests that apoA-II adopts a more condensed conformation at the lipid/water interface compared to apoA-I. The ability of apoA-II to displace apoA-I from egg PC and HDL3 surface lipid monolayers was studied by following the adsorption and desorption of the reductively 14C-methylated apolipoproteins. At saturating subphase concentrations of the apoproteins (3.10(-5) g/100 ml), two molecules of apoA-II absorbed for each molecule of apoA-I displaced. This displacement was accompanied by an increase in surface pressure. An identical stoichiometry for the displacement of apoA-I from HDL particles by apoA-II has been reported by others. At low subphase concentrations of apoproteins (5.10(-6) g/100 ml), the apoA-I/lipid monolayer was not fully compressed and could accommodate the adsorbing apoA-II molecules without displacement of apoA-I molecules. ApoA-I molecules were unable to displace apoA-II from the lipid/water interface. The average residue hydrophobicity of apoA-II is higher than that of apoA-I; this may contribute to the higher affinity of apoA-II for lipids compared to apoA-I. The probable helical regions in apolipoproteins A-I and A-II were located using a secondary structure prediction algorithm. The analysis suggests that the amphiphilic properties of the alpha-helical regions of apoA-I and apoA-II are probably not significantly different. Further understanding of the differences in surface activity of these apolipoproteins will require more knowledge of their secondary and tertiary structures.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1989

Molecular packing of high-density and low-density lipoprotein surface lipids and apolipoprotein A-I binding.

The surface pressure (pi)-molecular area (A) isotherms for monolayers of human high-density lipoprotein (HDL3) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) phospholipids and of mixed monolayers of these phospholipids with cholesterol spread at the air-water interface were used to deduce the likely molecular packing at the surfaces of HDL3 and LDL particles. LDL phospholipids form more condensed monolayers than HDL3 phospholipids; for example, the molecular areas of LDL and HDL3 phospholipids at pi = 10 dyn/cm are 88 and 75 A2/molecule, respectively. The closer packing in the LDL phospholipids monolayer can be attributed to the higher contents of saturated phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelin relative to HDL3. Cholesterol condenses both HDL3 and LDL phospholipid monolayers but has a greater condensing effect on the LDL phospholipid monolayer. The pi-A isotherms for mixed monolayer of HDL3 phospholipid/cholesterol and LDL phospholipid/cholesterol at stoichiometries similar to those at the surfaces of lipoprotein particles suggest that the monolayer at the surface of the LDL particle is significantly more condensed than that at the surface of the HDL3 particle. The closer lateral packing in LDL is due to at least three factors: (1) the difference in phospholipid composition; (2) the higher unesterified cholesterol content in LDL; and (3) a stronger interaction between cholesterol and LDL phospholipids relative to HDL3 phospholipids. The influence of lipid molecular packing on the affinity of human apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) for HDL3 and LDL surface lipids was evaluated by monitoring the adsorption of 14C-methylated apo A-I to monolayers of these lipids spread at various initial surface pressures (pi i).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adsorption↗

PubMed1988

The influence of the triglyceride content of low density lipoprotein on the interaction of apolipoprotein B-100 with cells.

To study the effect of triglyceride content of low density lipoprotein (LDL) on its physicochemical and biological properties, we have depleted the triglyceride by incubation with hepatic lipase (HL-LDL) and raised the triglyceride by incubation of HL-LDL with very low density lipoprotein and lipoprotein-deficient serum. HL-LDL was taken up by human monocyte-derived macrophages and by human skin fibroblasts at an increased rate compared to untreated LDL. Incubation of the various LDL preparations revealed that cellular LDL degradation as well as LDL-mediated cholesterol esterification were inversely related to the triglyceride content of the LDL preparation. Modification of the triglyceride content of LDL also was associated with changes in the free fatty acid content, but the interaction of the LDL with cells was unaffected by the level of this component. The triglyceride content of LDL was found to be reciprocally related to the number of free lysine amino groups of LDL apolipoprotein B (apoB) which could be labeled with trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid. 13C-Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of native LDL and HL-LDL samples containing [13CH3]2 lysine residues formed by reductive methylation (11-13% modification) showed that the arrangement of apoB lysines is perturbed by the exposure to hepatic lipase. The ratio of labeled lysines with pK 8.9 to those with pK 10.5 exposed on the surface of LDL particles was decreased by about 40% by lipase treatment. These effects are apparently due to changes in local apoB conformation because circular dichroism spectra revealed that the average secondary structure of the entire apoB molecule is the same in native LDL and HL-LDL. The triglyceride content of LDL reciprocally affected its binding to a monoclonal antibody which recognizes epitopes around the LDL receptor binding domain of apoB. The above evidence indicates that modulation of the core triglyceride and possibly also surface phospholipid content of LDL can alter the conformation of apoB on the surface of the particle, thereby influencing the interaction with cell surface LDL receptors.

Apolipoprotein B-100↗

PubMed1988

The influence of cellular and lipoprotein cholesterol contents on the flux of cholesterol between fibroblasts and high density lipoprotein.

Previous studies indicate that free cholesterol moves passively between high density lipoprotein (HDL) and cell plasma membranes by uncatalyzed diffusion of cholesterol molecules in the extracellular aqueous phase. By this mechanism, the rate constants for free cholesterol influx (Cli) and efflux (ke) should not be very sensitive to the free cholesterol content of cells or HDL. Thus, at a given HDL concentration, the unidirectional influx and efflux of cholesterol mass (Fi, Fe) should be proportional to the cholesterol content of HDL and cells, respectively, and net efflux of cholesterol mass (Fe-Fi greater than 0) should occur when either cells are enriched with cholesterol or HDL is depleted of cholesterol. We have examined the influence of cell and HDL free cholesterol contents on the bidirectional flux of free cholesterol between HDL and human fibroblasts and also attempted to detect some dependence of flux on the binding of HDL to the cells. In the range of HDL concentrations from 1 to 1000 micrograms of protein/ml, ke for cell free cholesterol approximately doubled for every 10-fold increase in HDL concentration, reaching 0.04 h-1 at 1000 micrograms of HDL/ml. ke and Cli were not influenced by the doubling of fibroblast free cholesterol content (from 31 +/- 5 to 62 +/- 13 micrograms of cholesterol/mg of protein). There was an approximate exchange of cholesterol between HDL and the unenriched fibroblasts (e.g. at [HDL] = 100 micrograms/ml, Fe and Fi = 3.2 and 3.0 micrograms of cholesterol/[4 h.mg of cell protein], respectively). In contrast, there was substantial net efflux from the enriched cells (at [HDL] = 100 micrograms/ml, Fe and Fi = 5.5 and 3.1 micrograms of cholesterol/[4 h.mg of cell protein], respectively). The rate constants for cholesterol flux were not influenced by changing the free cholesterol content of HDL, so that there was net efflux of cell cholesterol in the presence of cholesterol-depleted HDL and net influx from cholesterol-rich HDL. The Kd of HDL binding to fibroblasts was reduced from 1.7 to 0.9 micrograms/ml by the enrichment of the cells with free cholesterol; this increase in affinity for HDL was not reflected in enhanced rate constants for cholesterol flux. The inhibition of specific HDL binding by treatment of the lipoprotein with dimethyl suberimidate did not affect cholesterol flux using either control or cholesterol-rich cells at any HDL concentration in the range 1-1000 micrograms/ml. The above results are consistent with the concept that net movement of free cholesterol between cells and HDL occurs by passive, mass-action effects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Biological Transport↗

PubMed1988

A 13C NMR characterization of lysine residues in apolipoprotein B and their role in binding to the low density lipoprotein receptor.

NMR spectroscopy of 13C-labeled human low density lipoprotein (LDL) has been employed to characterize the lysine (Lys) residues in apo B-100. Reductive methylation with [13C]formaldehyde converts up to two-thirds of the Lys to the dimethylamino derivative; this pool of Lys is exposed at the surface of the LDL particle. The [13C]dimethyl-Lys which are visualized exhibit resonances at chemical shifts of 42.8 and 43.2 ppm (pH 7.6) indicating that they exist in two different microenvironments; this is a reflection of the native conformation of apo B associated with lipid, because the labeled, reduced, and alkylated protein gives a single resonance when dissolved in 7 M guanidine hydrochloride. The pH dependences of the Lys chemical shifts indicate that the two types of Lys titrate with different pK values; "active" Lys have a pK of 8.9, while "normal" Lys have a pK of 10.5. About 53 active Lys and 172 normal Lys are exposed on the surface of LDL with the remaining 132 Lys which are present in the human apo B-100 molecule being buried and unavailable for methylation. Addition of paramagnetic ions indicates that the active and normal Lys have different exposures to the aqueous phase; apparently this is a reflection of folding of the apo B molecule. The relative involvement of active and normal Lys in binding of apo B-100 to the LDL receptor on fibroblasts was explored by measuring the decrease in receptor binding as a function of the degree of methylation of the two types of Lys. Upper limits of 21 active and 31 normal Lys in the entire apo B-100 molecule are involved in the binding of LDL to the receptor. It is likely that these Lys are located in domains of apo B which contain clusters of basic amino acid residues and also bind heparin. If the sequence corresponding to apo B-48 (residues 1-2151) which does not bind to the receptor is excluded, then the above limits are halved; an upper limit of 10 active Lys may be particularly involved in receptor binding.

Apolipoprotein B-100↗

PubMed1988

Effects of lipid composition and packing on the adsorption of apolipoprotein A-I to lipid monolayers.

To better understand the factors controlling the binding of apolipoprotein molecules at the surfaces of serum lipoprotein particles, the adsorption of human apolipoprotein A-I to phospholipid monolayers has been studied. The influence of lipid packing was investigated by spreading the monolayers at various initial surface pressures (pi i) and by using various types of lipid. The adsorption of 14C-methylated apolipoprotein A-I was monitored by simultaneously following the surface radioactivity (which could be converted to the surface concentration of protein, gamma) and the change in surface pressure (delta pi). In general, increasing the pi i of lipid monolayers reduces the adsorption of apolipoprotein A-I; for expanded egg phosphatidylcholine (PC) monolayers at pi i greater than or equal to 32 dyn/cm, gamma and delta pi are zero. The degree of adsorption of the apolipoprotein is also influenced by the physical state of the lipid monolayers. Thus, at a given pi i, apolipoprotein A-I adsorbs more to expanded monolayers than to condensed monolayers so that, at a given subphase concentration of protein, gamma of apolipoprotein A-I with various phospholipid monolayers decreases in the order egg PC greater than egg sphingomyelin greater than distearoyl-PC. The plot of gamma against pi i for adsorption of apolipoprotein A-I to dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) monolayers shows an inflection at pi i = 8 dyn/cm; at this pi, the DPPC monolayer undergoes a phase transition from liquid (expanded) to solid (condensed) state. Addition of cholesterol generally decreases the adsorption of apolipoprotein A-I to egg PC monolayers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adsorption↗

PubMed1988

Physical state of cholesteryl esters deposited in cultured macrophages.

J774 macrophages load with cholesteryl ester (CE) when incubated with acetylated low-density lipoprotein and cholesterol-rich liposomes; the CE accumulates as cytoplasmic inclusions 1-2 micron in diameter. The CE core of the droplet comprises about 90% of its mass; the predominant CE species present are cholesteryl palmitate (CP, 41%) and cholesteryl oleate (CO, 37%). The thermotropic properties of the inclusions, both in intact cells and after isolation, have been characterized by differential scanning calorimetry. On heating, the inclusions exhibit two endothermic transitions at about 41 and 53 degrees C with a total enthalpy of 7.7 +/- 1.2 cal/g of CE. Very similar thermal behavior is exhibited by a binary mixture containing equal weights of CO and CP; this indicates that these two species dominate the phase behavior of CE in J774 inclusions. A phase diagram for the CO/CP system has been generated, and this reflects simple eutectic behavior. The eutectic is 83% w/w CO, and it melts at 49-50 degrees C. Below this temperature, CO and CP form two immiscible crystalline phases due to the very limited ability of the unsaturated oleate and saturated palmitate acyl chains to mix in the crystal phase. On heating a 1/1 w/w CO/CP mixture, an isotropic liquid of eutectic composition forms at 49 degrees C, and the remaining crystalline cholesteryl palmitate melts over the temperature range 50-69 degrees C. The phase diagram indicates that bulk mixtures of CE molecules in J774 inclusions should be crystalline at 37 degrees C, the growth temperature of the cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Influence of molecular packing and phospholipid type on rates of cholesterol exchange.

The rates of [14C]cholesterol transfer from small unilamellar vesicles containing cholesterol dissolved in bilayers of different phospholipids have been determined to examine the influence of phospholipid-cholesterol interactions on the rate of cholesterol desorption from the lipid-water interface. The phospholipids included unsaturated phosphatidylcholines (PC's) (egg PC, dioleoyl-PC, and soybean PC), saturated PC (dimyristoyl-PC and dipalmitoyl-PC), and sphingomyelins (SM's) (egg SM, bovine brain SM, and N-palmitoyl-SM). At 37 degrees C, for vesicles containing 10 mol% cholesterol, the half-times for exchange are about 1, 13, and 80 h, respectively, for unsaturated PC, saturated PC, and SM. In order to probe how differences in molecular packing in the bilayers cause the rate constants for cholesterol desorption to be in the order unsaturated PC greater than saturated PC greater than SM, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and monolayer methods were used to evaluate the cholesterol physical state and interactions with phospholipid. The NMR relaxation parameters for [4-13C]cholesterol reveal no differences in molecular dynamics in the above bilayers. Surface pressure (pi)-molecular area isotherms for mixed monolayers of cholesterol and the above phospholipids reveal that SM lateral packing density is greater than that of the PC with the same acyl chain saturation and length (e.g., at pi = 5 mN/m, where both monolayers are in the same physical state, dipalmitoyl-PC and palmitoyl-SM occupy 87 and 81 A2/molecule, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Carbon Radioisotopes↗

PubMed1988

A comparison of the surface activities of human apolipoproteins A-I and A-II at the air/water interface.

Surface pressure (pi) and adsorption isotherms for human apolipoproteins A-I and A-II at the air/water interface have been determined and used to deduce the probable molecular structures of the monomolecular films. The surface concentrations were measured using the surface radioactivity method to monitor the adsorption of reductively [14C]methylated apoproteins. Apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein A-II are extremely surface-active proteins and adsorb to exert maximal pi values of 22 and 24 mN.m-1 respectively, at a steady-state subphase concentration of about 3.10(-5) g/100 ml (equivalent to 11 and 17 nM for apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein A-II, respectively). At saturation monolayer coverage, the average molecular areas for apolipoprotein A-I and apolipoprotein A-II are 15 and 13 A2/residue, respectively. These packing densities are consistent with monolayers consisting largely of alpha-helical protein molecules lying with the long axes of the helical segments in the plane of the interface. Comparison of the molecular packings of spread and adsorbed monolayers of these proteins indicates that at low pi values, the adsorbed films are more expanded, but at high pi values, the molecular packing in both types of film is the same.

Adsorption↗

PubMed1988

Influence of the structure of the lipid-water interface on the activity of hepatic lipase.

Factors affecting the hydrolytic activity of purified rat hepatic lipase have been examined in mixed-monolayer systems. When nonsubstrate lipids [either egg sphingomyelin or beta-O-hexadecyl-gamma-O-(1-ocadec-9-enyl)-DL-phosphatidylcholine (OPPC-ether)] were used as inert matrices, hydrolytic activity for both triolein and dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine was shown to decrease with increasing surface pressure (pi); negligible activity occurred at pi greater than or equal to 30 mN/m. Examination of the effect of introduction of cholesterol into either matrix containing 2 mol % triolein indicated that the mean molecular area decreased with increasing cholesterol and that, at pi = 24 mN/m, triolein was fully miscible in the sphingomyelin matrix at cholesterol concentrations less than or equal to 32.5 mol % and in the OPPC-ether matrix at cholesterol concentrations less than or equal to 49 mol %. Above these critical concentrations of cholesterol, the phase diagrams indicate transitions that suggest that triolein is forced out of the monolayer. Introduction of increasing amounts of cholesterol into either inert matrix increased the rate of hydrolysis of triolein by hepatic lipase, although by different degrees. There are at least two factors contributing to these effects: (1) condensation of the monolayer by cholesterol, thus increasing the total surface concentration of triolein at pi = 24 mN/m in the constant area surface balance, and (2) some change in triolein conformation and/or accessibility since at identical surface concentrations of triolein (8.7 +/- 0.1 pmol/cm2) and pi (24 mN/m) the rate of hydrolysis of triolein by hepatic lipase is 1.5-fold higher in the OPPC-ether matrix than in the egg sphingomyelin matrix.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗