Apolipoprotein with monoclonal antibodies

B. Mapping of Apolipoprotein B on Low-Density Lipoprotein Surfaces with Monoclonal Antibodies... 

While lipoproteins are the products of many different genes, the major apolipoproteins share properties distinguishing them from most lipid-free and membrane-associated proteins. For example, apolipoproteins consist of a single polypeptide chain that has relatively little tertiary structure. Most apolipoproteins contain stretches of amphipathic alpha-helix, whose hydrophobic face can be turned to the lipid surface of the particle. The apolipoproteins are flexible, as is reflected in their unusually small free energy of unfolding. As these apolipoproteins expand and contract at the cell surface, different protein domains are exposed that are detectable with monoclonal antibodies. These properties reflect the role of apolipoproteins at the surface of lipoprotein particles whose size changes as they circulate. 

Mapping of hpoprotein particles was obtained mainly with monoclonal antibodies. Stable mouse or rat hybridoma ceU lines have been developed in our laboratory, in collaboration with others, to produce monoclonal antibodies against human apolipoproteins B, A-I, A-II, C-III, E, and (a). 

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