High density lipoprotein (HDL), the carrier of so-called" good" cholesterol, serves as the
major athero-protective lipoprotein and has emerged as a key therapeutic target for
cardiovascular disease. We applied small angle neutron scattering (SANS) with contrast
variation and selective isotopic deuteration to the study of nascent HDL to obtain the low
resolution structure in solution of the overall time-averaged conformation of apolipoprotein
AI (apoA-I) versus the lipid (acyl chain) core of the particle. Remarkably, apoA-I is observed …