Function and Comorbidities of Apolipoprotein E in Alzheimer's Disease
Figure 1
Illustration of the lipid-free (a) and DPPC-bound (b) conformational states of APOE isoforms. (a) In a lipid-free state, the NT and CT domains of APOE interact with each other. (b) The tridimensional conformation of APOE significantly changes when bound to lipid and adopts the shape of a horseshoe, with the CT domain oriented toward the lipoprotein surface. APOE or E: apolipoprotein E; the red dots line represents salt bridges; C: cysteine; R: arginine; E: glutamate; DPPC: dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine; NT: N-terminal domain containing the low-density lipoprotein binding sites; CT: C-terminal domain comprising the lipoprotein binding and APOE self-association sites.
