Purification and properties of two phospholipid transfer proteins from yeast

Several intracellular proteins of low and intermediate molecular weights have been isolated from a variety of mammalian and plant tissues that possess an ability to catalyze the transfer or exchange of intact phospholipid molecules between different membrane systems. The soluble cytosolic fraction of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae also contains phospholipid transfer activity that varies with both the state of cellular growth and the type of metabolic carbon source. This activity is protein in nature and very unstable, and requires powerful separation techniques for its purification. Here we report the isolation and characterization of two phospholipid transfer proteins from yeast, one of which we believe represents a partial proteolytic product of the other. The two proteins were purified to near homogeneity through a combination of dye-ligand and high performance ion-exchange chromatographic techniques. Transfer protein I (TP-I) is eluted at a lower ionic strength from an anion-exchange column than transfer protein II (TP-II), which reflects the difference in their isoelectric points; TP-I has a pI of 6.3, while that for TP-II is 6.1. Both species have the same apparent molecular weight of 33,400 and virtually identical substrate specificities. The order of the relative rates of phospholipid transfer are phosphatidylcholine greater than phosphatidylethanolamine greater than phosphatidylinositol greater than phosphatidylserine.