Apolipoprotein A-I of hyperlipidemia atherosclerosis prone (LAP) quail: cDNA sequence and tissue expression

Apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) has an important role in the transport of chol esterol. This study describes the complete nucleotide and deduced amino aci d sequence for apo A-I of LAP quail. A full length apo A-I cDNA clone for h yperlipidemia atherosclerosis prone (LAP) quail was isolated from a lambda gt10 liver cDNA library. The DNA sequence of LAP apo A-I cDNA was similar t o that of normal Japanese quail. The deduced amino acid sequence of LAP apo A-I was hence identical to that of normal Japanese quail. LAP apo A-I mRNA is about 1.4 kilobases in length and expressed in a variety of tissues inc luding small intestine, liver, lung, breast muscle, testis, and heart. Alth ough the tissue distribution of apo A-I was similar between strains, LAP qu ail expressed more apo A-I mRNA than normal Japanese quail in all tissues e xamined. This tendency was pronounced with the small intestine. Although th e concentration of serum apo A-I did not correlate with the tissue expressi on of mRNA, the observation may suggest that the increased apo A-I expressi on in LAP strain had some relevance to the susceptibility of this strain to the experimental atherosclerosis.