Toward reliable low-density lipoprotein ultrastructure prediction in clinical conditions: A small-angle X-ray scattering study on individuals with normal and high triglyceride serum levels.

Dainius Jakubauskas, Martin Jansen, Jeppe Lyngsø, Yuanji Cheng, Jan Skov Pedersen, Marité Cárdenas

Journal: Nanomedicine : nanotechnology, biology, and medicine 2021;31():102318

PMID: 33091569

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Abstract

Atherosclerosis is the main killer in the west and therefore a major health challenge today. Total serum cholesterol and lipoprotein concentrations, used as clinical markers, fail to predict the majority of cases, especially between the risk scale extremes, due to the high complexity in lipoprotein structure and composition. In particular, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) plays a key role in atherosclerosis development, with LDL size being a parameter considered for determining the risk for cardiovascular diseases. Determining LDL size and structural parameters is challenging to address experimentally under physiological-like conditions. This article describes the biochemistry and ultrastructure of normolipidemic and hypertriglyceridemic LDL fractions and subfractions using small-angle X-ray scattering. Our results conclude that LDL particles of hypertriglyceridemic compared to healthy individuals 1) have lower LDL core melting temperature, 2) have lower cholesteryl ester ordering in their core, 3) are smaller, rounder and more spherical below melting temperature, and 4) their protein-containing shell is thinner above melting temperature.

Address: Biofilms - Research center for Biointerfaces, Dept. of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health and Society, Malmo University, Malmo, Sweden. Electronic address: [email protected].; Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Medical Centre, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Materials Science and Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Technology and Society, Malmo University, Malmo, Sweden. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. Electronic address: [email protected].; Biofilms - Research center for Biointerfaces, Dept. of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health and Society, Malmo University, Malmo, Sweden. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2020.102318