Assessment of Apolipoprotein(a) Isoform Size Using Phenotypic and Genotypic Methods

Federica Fogacci; Valentina Di Micoli; Ashot Avagimyan; Marina Giovannini; Egidio Imbalzano; Arrigo F G Cicero

doi:10.3390/ijms241813886

Assessment of Apolipoprotein(a) Isoform Size Using Phenotypic and Genotypic Methods

Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Sep 9;24(18):13886. doi: 10.3390/ijms241813886.

Authors

Federica Fogacci¹, Valentina Di Micoli¹, Ashot Avagimyan², Marina Giovannini¹, Egidio Imbalzano³, Arrigo F G Cicero^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk Research Center, Medical and Surgical Sciences Department, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy.
² Pathological Anatomy Department, Yerevan State Medical University, Yerevan 0025, Armenia.
³ Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
⁴ Cardiovascular Medicine Unit, Heart, Thoracic and Vascular Department, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40100 Bologna, Italy.

Abstract

Apolipoprotein(a) (apo(a)) is the protein component that defines lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) particles and is encoded by the LPA gene. The apo(a) is extremely heterogeneous in size due to the copy number variations in the kringle-IV type 2 (KIV2) domains. In this review, we aim to discuss the role of genetics in establishing Lp(a) as a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) by examining a series of molecular biology techniques aimed at identifying the best strategy for a possible application in clinical research and practice, according to the current gold standard.

Keywords: KIV 2; LPA gene; Lp(a); apo(a); apolipoprotein(a); lipoprotein(a).

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.