Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Transient Expression of Proteins by Hydrodynamic Gene Delivery in Mice
Published on: May 5, 2014
Apolipophorin II/I, apolipoprotein B, vitellogenin, and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein genes are derived
P J Babin1, J Bogerd, F P Kooiman
1UPRESA 8080 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Biologie du Développement des Poissons, Université Paris-Sud, Bât. 447, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
Abstract:
Large lipid transfer proteins (LLTP) are nonexchangeable apolipoproteins and intracellular lipid-exchange proteins involved in the assembly, secretion, and metabolism of lipoproteins. We have identified contiguous conserved sequence motifs in alignments of insect apolipophorin II/I precursor (apoLp-II/I), human apolipoprotein B (apoB), invertebrate and vertebrate vitellogenins (VTG), and the large subunit of mammalian microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP). Conserved motifs present in the N-terminal part of nonexchangeable apolipoproteins encompass almost completely the large subunit of MTP, suggesting a derivation from a common ancestral functional unit, termed large lipid transfer (LLT) module. Divergence of LLTP from a common ancestor is supported by (1) the statistical significance of the combined match scores obtained after motif-based database searches, (2) the presence of several identical amino acid residues in all LLTP sequences currently available, (3) the conservation of hydrophobic clusters in an alpha-helical domain, (4) the phylogenetic analysis of the conserved sequences related to the von Willebrand factor D (VWD) module identified in nonexchangeable apolipoproteins, and (5) the presence of four and one ancestral exon boundaries in the LLT and VWD modules, respectively. Our data indicate that the genes coding for apoLp-II/I, apoB, VTG, and the MTP large subunit are members of the same multigene superfamily. LLTP have emerged from an ancestral molecule designed to ensure a pivotal event in the intracellular and extracellular transfer of lipids and liposoluble substances.
Related Concept Videos
Gene Families
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Protein Families
Retroviruses
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Overview of Fatty Acid Metabolism
Fatty acids are catabolized in a process called beta-oxidation, which takes place in the matrix of the mitochondria and converts their fatty acid chains into two-carbon units of acetyl groups. The acetyl...
Biosynthesis of Lipids

