Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027960 (mole)
21,279 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The polypeptide molecular weight of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) (45000) was obtained by deducting the weight of carbohydrate moiety (25%, w/w) from the total molecular weight of 60000. LCAT was found to have a relatively high content of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, glycine, and leucine residues and four half-cystines. The carbohydrate content was found to be about 25% (w/w): hexoses, 13%; hexosamines, 6.2%; and sialic acid, 5.4%. The total number of 408 amino acid residues per mole and the mean residue weight of 110.3 were found. From fluorescence spectroscopy analysis, 6-7 mol of tryptophan were found per mole of LCAT in 10 mM phosphate (pH 7.4). However, when LCAT was digested by the mixture of chymotrypsin and pronase the tryptophan residues increased to 10-11 mol/mol of LCAT, which agrees well with data obtained previously by ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy. A partial specific volume of 0.707 mL/g was determined by compositional analysis. Human LCAT was found to have a relatively high extinction coefficient (E1%1cm) of 21 at 280 nm and neutral pH. Two residues of cysteine per mole of LCAT were estimated both in the presence or absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate by titration with 5,5'-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid. The enzyme showed a lower tendency to staining with Coomassie blue R-250 than bovine serum albumin. The enzyme was rapidly inactivated by diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP), regardless of whether the free sulfhydryl were blocked or not. The enzyme was also irreversibly inhibited by cysteine above concentrations of 1 mM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Characterization of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase from human plasma. 3. Chemical properties of the enzyme. 662 99

To model the common structural unit in the system of reverse cholesterol transport, we studied the composition, structure, and physicochemical properties of complexes generated between dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) or palmitoyllinoleoylphosphatidylcholine (PLPC) and apoE3 in the absence and in the presence of cholesterol (Chol); the data were compared with similar experiments using apoA-I, the major proteins of high-density lipoproteins. The conformation and organization of lipid-binding domains of apoE3 within the complexes were calculated by computer modeling. The transition temperatures of DPPC within discoidal complexes with mean diameters of 116 A (GGE) or 148 A (EM) were higher for complexes versus liposomes both in the absence and in the presence of Chol. Association of apoE3 with DPPC resulted in a more structured state of the apolipoprotein molecule versus the soluble apolipoprotein; this state was characterized by parallel orientation of alpha-helixes of apoE3 and DPPC acyl chains. Substrate efficiency of the apoE3-PLPC-Chol complexes in the lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) reaction expressed as Vmax/Km was 0.5 mole cholesteryl esters/h per 1 microM. The transformation of discoidal apoE3-DPPC-Chol complexes into spherical particles was induced by LCAT and accumulation of cholesteryl esters was approximately 62% of the total cholesterol. Parallel orientation of phospholipid acyl chains with helical segments disappeared in these particles. Discoidal apoE3-DPPC complexes incorporated unesterified cholesterol released from Chol-loaded J774 macrophages. The data support the concept that association of apoE3 and apoA-I with phospholipids is qualitatively similar due to similar orientation of helical repeats in the C-terminal domains of apoE3 and apoA-I.
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PMID:Composition and structural and functional properties of discoidal and spherical phospholipid-apoE3 complexes. 927 98

Human carriers of apolipoprotein A-I(Milano) (Arg173 --> Cys substitution in apolipoprotein A-I) are characterized by an HDL deficiency in which small, dense HDL accumulate in plasma. Because affected individuals are heterozygous for this mutation, the full impact of apolipoprotein A-I(Milano) (apoA-I(Milano)) on HDL-cholesterol metabolism is unknown. In this study, apoA-I(Milano) transgenic mice were used to evaluate the extent of apoA-I(Milano) dimerization and HDL particle size restriction in the absence of wild-type apoA-I. Murine apoA-I knockout mice were utilized to express apoA-I(Milano) and human apoA-II in the presence of wild-type, human apoA-I (apoA-IMilano/A-Iwt/A-II) and in its absence (apoA-IMilano/A-II). Plasma HDL-cholesterol concentrations were similar (30 mg/dl) in both lines of apoA-I(Milano) transgenic mice. In the apoA-IMilano/A-Iwt/A-II phenotype, 14% of the apoA-I(Milano) formed homodimers and 33% formed heterodimers with apoA-II. ApoA-I(Milano) homodimers increased by 71% in the apoA-IMilano/A-II transgenics and was associated with an abundance of small, 7.6-nm HDL3-sized particles compared to the 9.5, 8.3, and 7.6-nm-sized particles in apoA-IMilano/A-Iwt/A-II mice. The unesterified cholesterol/cholesteryl ester mole ratio of HDL was elevated by 45% in apoA-IMilano/A-Iwt/A-II mice and by 90% in apoA-IMilano/A-II transgenics compared to wild-type (human apoA-I/A-II). Both apoA-I(Milano) transgenics possessed normal levels of plasma LCAT activity, but endogenous cholesterol esterification rates were reduced by 50% compared to controls. Thus, HDL particle size restriction was not the result of impaired LCAT activation; rather, dimerization of apoA-I(Milano) limited the esterification of cholesterol on endogenous HDL. In the absence of wild-type apoA-I, the more extensive dimerization of apoA-I(Milano) severely limited cholesteryl ester accumulation on plasma HDL accounting for the abundance of small, 7.6-nm HDL3 particles in apoA-IMilano/A-II mice.
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PMID:High density lipoprotein particle size restriction in apolipoprotein A-I(Milano) transgenic mice. 939 29

Phylogenetic relationships among 19 extant species of rodents, with special emphasis on rats, mice, and allied Muroidea, were studied using sequences of the nuclear protein-coding gene LCAT (lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase), an enzyme of cholesterol metabolism. Analysis of 705 base pairs from the exonic regions of LCAT confirmed known groupings in and around Muroidea. Strong support was found for the families Sciuridae (squirrel and marmot) and Gliridae (dormice) and for suprafamilial taxa Muroidea and Caviomorpha (guinea pig and allies). Within Muroidea, the first branching leads to the fossorial mole rats Spalacinae and bamboo rats Rhizomyinae. The other Muroidea appear as a polytomy from which are issued Gerbillinae (gerbils), Murinae (rats and mice), Sigmodontinae (New World cricetids), Cricetinae (hamsters), and Arvicolinae (voles). Evidence from LCAT sequences agrees with that from a number of previous molecular and morphological studies, both concerning branching orders inside Muroidea and the bush-like radiation of rodent suprafamilial taxa (caviomorphs, sciurids, glirids, muroids), thus suggesting that this nuclear gene is an appropriate candidate for addressing questions of rodents relationships.
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PMID:Molecular phylogeny of rodents, with special emphasis on murids: evidence from nuclear gene LCAT. 941 99