Apolipoprotein E2(Arg158----Cys) frequency in a hyperlipidemic French-Canadian population of apolipoprotein E2/2 subjects. Determination by synthetic oligonucleotide probes.

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Abstract
An underlying cause of type III hyperlipoproteinemia is the presence of variant forms of apolipoprotein (apo) E that are defective in binding to apo B,E low density lipoprotein receptors. This disorder is associated almost exclusively with the apo E2/2 phenotype. However, structural and functional heterogeneity have been demonstrated within this phenotype. The apo E2(Arg158----Cys) variant, displaying 1% of normal apo E3 binding activity, is the most defective known form. In this study, we describe a method in which a pair of 19-mer synthetic oligonucleotide probes were used to distinguish between DNA coding for arginine or cysteine at position 158 in apo E. The specificity of the probes was demonstrated by using DNA from subjects whose apo E protein sequence or phenotype was known. The probes were used to screen a French-Canadian population of 34 apo E2/2 subjects to determine the frequency of the apo E2(Arg158----Cys) variant. All 34 subjects, most of whom displayed clinical or biochemical features of t...