Retention of lipolytic products in chylomicrons incubated with lipoprotein lipase: electron microscope study

Early effects of lipolysis on the structure of chylomicrons in vitro were studied in rat chylomicrons incubated with purified bovine mild lipoprotein lipase at pH 8.1. The amount of the albumin added to the incubation medium was limited so that free fatty acids (FFA) and partial glycerides formed during lipolysis would accumulate in the chylomicrons. The structures visualized in lipolyzed chylomicrons was found to be affected by pH during preparation of specimens for microscopy, whether fixed with OsO4 and sectioned, or stained with sodium phosphotungstate and examined as whole mounts. Circular aqueous spaces were present in the triglyceride core of lipolyzed chylomicrons processed at pH 8.1 and 7.4. Sometimes the spaces contained aggregates of osmiophilic material and whorls of bilayered lamellae. The spaces were replaced by lamellar structures having a periodicity of 40 A, in chylomicrons processed at pH 5.5, and the spaces and lamellae were both absent at pH 3.0. The findings indicate that these spaces were lined by a lipid monolayer which formed bilayered lamellae under certain conditions. It is concluded that the monolayer lining the aqueous spaces is an inward extension of the chylomicron surface film produced by the accumulation and movement of lipolytic products, FFA and partial glycerides, in the interfacial plane between core triglyceride and water.