image
FIGURE 14-27 Model of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). All classes of lipoproteins have the same general structure: an amphipathic shell composed of apolipoprotein, a phospholipid monolayer (not bilayer), and cholesterol, and a hydrophobic core composed mostly of cholesteryl esters or triglycerides, or both, but with minor amounts of other neutral lipids (e.g., some vitamins). This model of LDL is based on electron microscopy and other low-resolution biophysical methods. LDL is unique in that it contains only a single molecule of one type of apolipoprotein (ApoB), which appears to wrap around the outside of the particle as a band of protein. The other lipoproteins contain multiple apolipoprotein molecules, often of different types. See M. Krieger, 1995, in E. Haber, ed., Molecular Cardiovascular Medicine, Scientific American Medicine, pp. 31–47.