Intracellular maturation of apolipoprotein[a] and assembly of lipoprotein[a] in primary baboon hepatocytes.

The glycoprotein apolipoprotein[a] (apo[a]) is present in plasma at highly variable concentrations and appears as a number of genetically determined size isoforms (400-800 kDa), disulfide linked to apoB-100 in low density lipoprotein to produce lipoprotein [a](Lp[a]). Apo[a] is synthesized by the liver, but the site of association of apo[a] and apoB and factors that regulate its production are unknown. To examine the morphogenesis of the Lp[a] particle, baboon hepatocytes expressing a single, low molecular weight isoform of apo[a] were labeled with [35S]cysteine and methionine, and apo[a] was analyzed by immunoprecipitation and SDS-PAGE. Steady-state labeling revealed two molecular weight forms of apo[a] inside the cell. Only the large form was recovered from the culture medium. Pulse-chase studies and endoglycosidase treatment revealed that the lower molecular weight form of apo[a] represented a precursor with a prolonged residence time in the endoplasmic reticulum or an early Golgi compartment, after which it was processed to the mature form. A proportion of the mature form of apo[a] was rapidly secreted after synthesis, whereas the remainder had a prolonged residence time in a late Golgi compartment. In all experiments, apoB co-precipitated with apo[a] from the culture medium, but not from cell lysates. Density gradient ultracentrifugation and immunoblot analysis revealed that the majority of apo[a] was secreted into the medium in a free form, suggesting that the association between apo[a] and apoB occurred after secretion. Regulation of the movement of apo[a] between intracellular compartments may be one mechanism by which the plasma levels of Lp[a] are influenced.