Going APO

Although the gene cluster containing apolipoprotein genes APOA1, CIII and AIV is relatively well-tilled soil, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory believe they have found a new nugget in the neighborhood - an APO gene located proximal to the cluster. The new gene, APOAV, may have utility as a pharmacogenetic marker in cardiovascular diagnostics and in developing treatments for coronary artery disease.

Lawrence Berkeley researchers published in Science that transgenic mice lacking APOAV had plasma triglyceride levels four-fold higher than wild-type mice (p<0.001). Conversely, mice overexpressing APOAV had lower triglyceride levels than controls (p<0.0001). Furthermore, in two human studies, SNPs at the APOAV locus were significantly associated with plasma triglyceride levels. ...