Lipid macromolecular aggregates

Cholesterol and triacylglycerols are transported in body fluids in the form of lipoprotein particles. Each particle consists of a core of hydrophobic lipids surrounded by a shell of more polar lipids and apoproteins. The protein components of these macromolecular aggregates have two roles they solubilize hydrophobic lipids and contain cell-targeting signals. Lipoprotein particles are classified according to increasing density (Table 26.1) chylomicrons, chylomicron remnants, very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Ten principal apoproteins have been isolated and characterized. They are synthesized and secreted by the liver and the intestine. 

Milk Proteins. Milk is a complex biological fluid that contains as the principal constituents a wide array of proteins, the milk carbohydrate (lactose), and a variety of polar and nonpolar lipids. The proteins of milk consist primarily of caseins existing as macromolecular aggregates termed casein micelles and the soluble whey or serum proteins. 

Figure 7 Plot of the change in the product of the coupling and maximum saturation factors as a function of macromolecular structure. At lower pH values, the spin-labelled lipids are present as vesicles and vesicular aggregates, while at higher pH values, micelles are formed. The higher psmax values for the micelles imply greater water accessibility to the radical site. The solid circles represent 16-DS (16-doxyl stearic acid, spin-labelled at the end of the lipid tail) while the open circles represent 5-DS (5-doxyl stearic acid, spin-labelled near the polar head group). Reproduced with permission from Ref. [70].

A membrane is a large macromolecular complex, about 5 nm thick, in which two sheets of phospholipids aggregate so that their hydrophobic lipid portions are packed together between the outer layers, which are... 

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