Apolipoprotein M binds oxidized phospholipids and increases the antioxidant effect of HDL

Oxidation of LDL plays a key role in the development of atherosclerosis. HDL may, in part, protect against atherosclerosis by inhibiting LDL oxidation. Overexpression of HDL-associated apolipoprotein M (apoM) protects mice against atherosclerosis through a not yet clarified mechanism. Being a lipocalin, apoM contains a binding pocket for small lipophilic molecules. Here, we report that apoM likely serves as an antioxidant in HDL by binding oxidized phospholipids, thus enhancing the antioxidant potential of HDL.

HDL was isolated from wild type mice, apoM-deficient mice, and two lines of apoM-Tg mice with ∼2-fold and ∼10-fold increased plasma apoM, respectively. Increasing amounts of HDL-associated apoM were associated with an increase in the resistance of HDL to oxidation with Cu(2+) or 2,2'-azobis 2-methyl-propanimidamide, dihydrochloride (AAPH) and to an increased ability of HDL to protect human LDL against oxidation. Oxidized phospholipids, but not native phospholipids, quenched the intrinsic fluorescence of recombinant human apoM and the quenching could be competed with myristic acid suggesting selective binding of oxidized phospholipid in the lipocalin-binding pocket of apoM.

The results suggest that apoM can bind oxidized phospholipids and that it increases the antioxidant effect of HDL. This new mechanism may explain at least part of the antiatherogenic potential of apoM.