Possible Molecular Chaperones for Lipoprotein Lipase in Endoplasmic Reticulum

Studies in adipocytes indicate that secretion of active lipoprotein lipase (LPL) was strictly regulated by a quality control system in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). However, there has been no report about the ER chaperones participating in the folding and assembly of LPL. Many chaperones are known to bind unfolded proteins and dissociate from them through the ATP-hydrolyzing reaction. In this study, putative ER chaperones for LPL were determined by affinity chromatography using denatured LPL as an affinity ligand and elution with ATP. BiP, grp94, calreticulin, and another 50 kDa K-D-E-L protein in the ER of rat adipose tissue were bound to denatured LPL and eluted by ATP. Calnexin was bound to denatured LPL; however, it was not eluted by ATP but by acetic acid. These results indicate that, at least, BiP, grp94, calreticulin, calnexin, and the unidentified 50 kDa protein might act as putative chaperones for the proper folding and assembly of LPL in ER.