Chylomicron synthesis by intestinal cells in vitro and in vivo

Synthesis and secretion of chylomicrons by the intestine is essential to tr ansport dietary fats in the circulation and to deliver these fats to the ap propriate peripheral tissues. The assembly of chylomicrons within the enter ocyte and the subsequent secretion of these lipoprotein particles into the lymph is a complex, multi-step process that includes absorption of lipids b y the enterocytes, cellular lipid (re)synthesis and translocation of cellul ar lipid pools, synthesis and post-translational modification of various ap olipoproteins and, finally, the assembly of lipid and lipoprotein component s into a chylomicron. The key process in chylomicron synthesis is the intra cellular association of apolipoprotein (apo)B48, the structural protein of chylomicrons, with lipids. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All right s reserved.