DETECTION AND QUANTITATION OF APOLIPOPROTEIN(A) MESSENGER-RNA IN HUMAN LIVER AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH PLASMA LIPOPROTEIN(A) CONCENTRATION

Northern blotting and hybridisation with specific probes was used to detect and quantitate apolipoprotein(a) (apo(a)) mRNA in total RNA isolated from 25 human liver samples. A total of 14 different transcripts were identified suggesting that there are at least 15 different alleles at the apo(a) locus including a probable null allele. Apo(a) mRNA sizes were linearly correlated with the electrophoretic mobility of plasma apo(a) glycoprotein isoforms, and differed, in many cases, by the equivalent of one Kringle 4 unit. To investigate the relationship between apo(a) mRNA size and its concentration in the liver, and between hepatic apo(a) mRNA concentration and plasma lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) levels, apo(a) mRNA was quantified by densitometric scanning of autoradiograms of Northern blots. Overall, there was a significant inverse correlation between apo(a) mRNA size and its concentration in the liver, despite a marked interindividual variability in the relative amounts of similar-sized transcripts. In each heterozygous individual, the difference in concentration between the two mRNA species was determined by the difference in size. However, there was not a significant relationship between hepatic apo(a) mRNA concentration and plasma Lp(a) levels in this group. These findings emphasise the importance of mechanisms other than the rate of transcription of the apo(a) gene in the regulation of Lp(a) synthesis.