A NOVEL VESICULAR ASSAY TO STUDY FACTORS AFFECTING CHOLESTEROL CRYSTALLIZATION IN-VITRO

We present an assay to study cholesterol crystallization that is fast, facile, and highly reproducible. Cholesterol crystallization from met astable vesicles was induced upon addition of bile salts and depended on the hydrophobicity of the bile salt used and the cholesterol-to-pho spholipid ratio of the vesicles. Bile salt-induced crystallization was stimulated upon addition of Con A-binding glycoproteins (CABGs), comp arable to the results of the same CABGs in a crystal growth assay. The onset time and total measuring time, however, were much shorter. This assay might, moreover, provide a tool to study the mechanism of chole sterol crystallization in more detail.-Zijlstra, A. I. M., B. J. M. Va n de Heijning, M. van Overveld, and A. K. Green. A novel vesicular ass ay to study factors affecting cholesterol crystallization in vitro.