Lipoprotein(a): Reloaded

Familial hypercholesterolemia and elevated lipoprotein(a): double heritable risk and new therapeutic opportunities

“…Lp(a) particles resemble LDL particles, but crucially differ from those in that they contain one copy of a unique apoprotein, apoprotein(a) [apo(a)], which is linked via a disulphide bond to the apoB-100 moiety of the particle [38]. Apo(a) is a highly polymorphic glycoprotein synthesized and secreted almost exclusively by the liver [39]. It is noteworthy that there is a significant sequence homology (78%-100%) between apo(a) and the fibrinolytic pro-enzyme plasminogen [40,41], in that both apo (a) and plasminogen contain loop-like structures called kringles [42,43].…”

Functional primate genomics—leveraging the medical potential

“…Evolutionary conservation of many of those genes clearly suggests that they do have a function, and many seem to be involved in testis development [32,33] and primate brain development [34]. One medically relevant example of a primate-specific gene is LPA, the gene encoding the defining component of the lipoprotein a (Lp(a)) [35]. Genetic variants in LPA that increase Lp(a) levels increase the risk of coronary disease in humans [36].…”

“…Despite its medical relevance and research on Lp(a) for almost 50 years, relatively little is known about its physiological function [35], also because neither humans nor baboons without Lp(a) have any apparent phenotype [41].…”