Dimeric nature of apo-low density lipoprotein extracted with Triton X-100

Human low density lipoprotein (LDL) was dissolved in 0.3 to 2.0% Triton X-100 at pH 7.5 and apo-LDL (B protein) was extracted from LDL to form B protein-Triton complex. Sedimentation equilibrium study of this complex in a solvent nearly isopycnic to Triton X-100 showed that the molecular weight of the protein in the complex was 570,000. The complex eluted almost at the void volume of a Sepharose 6B column, as would be expected for a complex with a total molecular weight of roughly 900,000, on the assumption that 0.52 g of Triton was bound to 1 g of protein (Helenius, A. and Simons, K. (1972) J. Biol. Chem. 247, 3656-3661). The sedimentation coefficient of the complex gave f/fmin = 2.2, indicating that the complex was either as asymmetric as a fibrinogen molecule or not compact. These results show that B protein exists in its complex with Triton X-100 as an elongated or a loosely expanded dimer based on the molecular weight of monomeric B protein of 270,000. B protein may also exist in LDL as a dimer.