The aim of this study was to define the specific affinity of human apolipoproteins A-I and A-II for HDL lipids and to investigate the possible transfer of apolipoproteins from the HDL molecule. For this purpose we incubated human HDL with increasing amounts of isolated apolipoprotein A-II. After incubation the reaction products were separated by gel chromatography and apolipoproteins A-I and A-II were quantified separately by immunonephelometry and HDL lipids by thin-layer chromatography. According to our results, apolipoprotein A-II progressively displaces apolipoprotein A-I to generate an HDL-like particle with identical lipid composition, hydrodynamic properties and lipid fluidity. These data indicate that apolipoprotein A-II is able to displace quantitatively apolipoprotein A-I from HDL in vitro, and that such a mechanism might contribute to the regulation of the HDL2 in equilibrium or formed from HDL3 distribution in plasma.