NMR Studies of Lipid-Protein Interaction in Apolipoprotein B / Phosphatidylcholine Recombinants

$^{31}P${$^1H$} nuclear Overhauser effects (NOEs) have been obtained for complexes formed between apolipoprotein B (apo B) and dipalmytoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicles. NOE measurements have been conducted with broad-band irradiation of the entire $^1H$ spectrum in order to identify the proton source of the NOE. In a unilamellar vesicle formed spontaneously upon mixing aqueous suspensions of long-chain phospholipid with small amount of short-chain lecithin, the maximum NOE occurs at the N-methyl proton resonance position of the choline moiety. With addition of cholesterol to vesicles, the position of the NOE maximum shifts further away from the choline methyl frequency. For the ternary apo B-vesicle-cholesterol complex, the position of the maximum NOE lies halfway between those in vesicles with and without cholesterol.