Classify lipoproteins and explain their functions.
How to lay out the answer. Follow the frame, then write it in your own words.
1 · Open in two lines. Lipoproteins are particles that carry fats, which do not mix with water, through the blood. Each has a fat core and a coat of phospholipids, cholesterol and apoproteins.
2 · Draw the structure. [Diagram: lipoprotein ball with a core of triglycerides and cholesterol esters, a shell of phospholipids, free cholesterol and apoproteins; beside it, the five classes in order of density]
3 · Classification.
By density (ultracentrifugation): chylomicrons, VLDL, IDL, LDL, HDL, lightest to densest.
By electrophoresis: chylomicrons stay at the origin; pre-β (VLDL), β (LDL), α (HDL).
4 · Functions of each.
Chylomicrons: dietary fat from intestine to tissues.
VLDL: liver-made triglycerides to tissues.
IDL: short-lived; changes to LDL.
LDL: cholesterol to tissues.
HDL: cholesterol back to the liver (reverse cholesterol transport).