Very low-density lipoprotein

Very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), density relative to extracellular water, is a type of lipoprotein made by the liver.^[1] VLDL is one of the five major groups of lipoproteins (chylomicrons, VLDL, intermediate-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein) that enable fats and cholesterol to move within the water-based solution of the bloodstream. VLDL is assembled in the liver from triglycerides, cholesterol, and apolipoproteins. VLDL is converted in the bloodstream to low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL). VLDL particles have a diameter of 30–80 nanometers (nm). VLDL transports endogenous products, whereas chylomicrons transport exogenous (dietary) products. In the early 2010s both the lipid composition^[2] and protein composition^[3] of this lipoprotein were characterised in great detail.

^ Gibbons GF, Wiggins D, Brown AM, Hebbachi AM (2004). "Synthesis and function of hepatic very-low-density lipoprotein". Biochem Soc Trans. 32 (Pt 1): 59–64. doi:10.1042/bst0320059. PMID 14748713. S2CID 31486300.
^ Dashti M, Kulik W, Hoek F, Veerman EC, Peppelenbosch MP, Rezaee F (2011). "A phospholipidomic analysis of all defined human plasma lipoproteins". Sci. Rep. 1 (139): 139. Bibcode:2011NatSR...1E.139D. doi:10.1038/srep00139. PMC 3216620. PMID 22355656.
^ Dashty M, Motazacker MM, Levels J, de Vries M, Mahmoudi M, Peppelenbosch MP, Rezaee F (2014). "Proteome of human plasma very-low-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein exhibits a link with coagulation and lipid metabolism". Thromb. Haemost. 111 (3): 518–530. doi:10.1160/TH13-02-0178. PMID 24500811. S2CID 20566238.