Scanning electron microscopic study of chylomicrons incubated with lipoprotein lipase

The effects of lipolysis on the structure of chylomicrons were studied with the scanning electron microscope using rat chylomicrons incubated with purified bovine milk lipoprotein lipase for 20 minutes at pH 8.1. Since the amount of albumin added to the medium was limited, some of the free fatty acids and partial glycerides formed by lipolysis accumulated in the chylomicrons. Lipolyzed chylomicrons fixed with OSO4 at pH 7.4 appeared in scanning electron micrographs as spheres with multiply idented irregular surfaces, while those fixed at pH 5.5, AS WELL AS CONTROL CHYLOMICRONS FIXED AT BOTH PHs, appeared as spheres with smooth surfaces. Sections of OSO4-fixed specimens, viewed with the transmission electron microscope, showed that the core of lipolyzed chylomicrons fixed at pH 7.4 contained numerous circular electron-lucent areas at the periphery, thus accounting for the indented surfaces observed above, while the core surfaces of the other specimens were circular and smooth. These findings confirm an earlier report that aqueous spaces form in chylomicrons during lipolysis when albumin in the medium is limited, and that the aqueous spaces disappear when specimens are prepared at pH 5.5 for microscopy. Thin sections of specimens that had been prepared for scanning electron microscopy showed that the gold-palladium coating was desposited directly on the indented surface of the lipid core of lipolyzed chylomicrons fixed at pH 7.4. It is concluded that vacuum dehydration during specimen preparation ruptures the outer wall of the aqueous spaces in lipolyzed chylomicrons and thereby exposes the interior of the spaces to gold-palladium coating and viewing with the scanning electron microscope.