The lipid bilayer structure of the abnormal human plasma lipoprotein X. An X-ray small-angle-scattering study

The structure of the abnormal lipoprotein X occurring in the plasma of patients with obstructive jaundice was investigated by X-ray small-angle scattering. The data were analyzed by discussing the distance distribution functions obtained directly from the experimental data by Fourier transformation, involving no a priori assumptions. The results provide evidence for lipoprotein X being essentially a random distribution of lamellae with a thickness of 5.1 nm and are consistent with hollow spherical (vesicular) structures of outer diameters greater than 30 nm with some overall size heterogeneity. Under the experimental conditions chosen, lipoprotein concentrations between 0.01 and 0.18 g/ml in in buffers of low ionic strength, lateral stacking as observed in negative-stain electron microscopy does not occur. The electron density profile perpendicular to the lamellar plane indicates that a lipid bilayer is the underlying structural principle, with the protein moieties partly bound within the polar head-group regions and partly occluded in soluble form in the vesicle interior.