Specific docking of apolipoprotein A-I at the cell surface requires a functional ABCA1 transporter

J Biol Chem. 2001 Mar 30;276(13):9955-60. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M010265200. Epub 2001 Jan 9.

Abstract

The identification of defects in ABCA1 as the molecular basis of Tangier disease has highlighted its crucial role in the loading with phospholipids and cholesterol of nascent apolipoprotein particles. Indeed the expression of ABCA1 affects apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I)-mediated removal of lipids from cell membranes, and the possible role of ABCA1 as an apoA-I surface receptor has been recently suggested. In the present study, we have investigated the role of the ABCA1 transporter as an apoA-I receptor with the analysis of a panel of transfectants expressing functional or mutant forms of ABCA1. We provide experimental evidence that the forced expression of a functional ABCA1 transporter confers surface competence for apoA-I binding. This, however, appears to be dependent on ABCA1 function. Structurally intact but ATPase-deficient forms of the transporter fail to elicit a specific cell association of the ligand. In addition the diffusion parameters of membrane-associated apoA-I indicate an interaction with membrane lipids rather than proteins. These results do not support a direct molecular interaction between ABCA1 and apoA-I, but rather suggest that the ABCA1-induced modification of the lipid distribution in the membrane, evidenced by the phosphatidylserine exofacial flopping, generates a biophysical microenvironment required for the docking of apoA-I at the cell surface.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • ATP Binding Cassette Transporter 1
  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / physiology*
  • Adenosine Triphosphatases / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Annexin A5 / metabolism
  • Apolipoprotein A-I / metabolism*
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism*
  • Cell Separation
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Cyclic AMP / metabolism
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Kinetics
  • Ligands
  • Lipid Metabolism
  • Macrophages / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Models, Biological
  • Mutation
  • Nephelometry and Turbidimetry
  • Phosphatidylserines / metabolism
  • Precipitin Tests
  • Protein Binding
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence
  • Temperature
  • Transfection

Substances

  • ATP Binding Cassette Transporter 1
  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters
  • Annexin A5
  • Apolipoprotein A-I
  • Ligands
  • Phosphatidylserines
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Cyclic AMP
  • Adenosine Triphosphatases