[Beta-lipoprotein transport via the endothelium in experimental hypercholesterolemia (an electron microscopic and...

The paper analyses mechanisms and routes of transport of low density beta-lipoproteins (LD-beta-LP) into the vessel wall via the endothelial barrier in experimental hypercholesterinemia. The use of electron microscopic autoradiography with 125I-labeled LD-beta-LP allowed the subtle initiating mechanisms of the development of atherosclerotic lesions of arteries to be analysed. Electron microscopic studies confirmed the concept that beta-LP in atherosclerosis penetrate into the vessel wall as an intact particle. At different stages of formation of atherosclerotic changes of arteries the ways of transport of LD-beta-LP into the intima of arteries were shown to vary. Qualitative and quantitative rearrangements within the endothelial barrier indicate great variability of the ways of transport of high molecular components of plasma into the vessel wall.