A human APOC3 missense variant and monoclonal antibody accelerate apoC-III clearance and lower triglyceride-rich lipoprotein levels.

Nat Med
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Recent large-scale genetic sequencing efforts have identified rare coding variants in genes in the triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TRL) clearance pathway that are protective against coronary heart disease (CHD), independently of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. Insight into the mechanisms of protection of these variants may facilitate the development of new therapies for lowering TRL levels. The gene APOC3 encodes apoC-III, a critical inhibitor of triglyceride (TG) lipolysis and remnant TRL clearance. Here we report a detailed interrogation of the mechanism of TRL lowering by the APOC3 Ala43Thr (A43T) variant, the only missense (rather than protein-truncating) variant in APOC3 reported to be TG lowering and protective against CHD. We found that both human APOC3 A43T heterozygotes and mice expressing human APOC3 A43T display markedly reduced circulating apoC-III levels. In mice, this reduction is due to impaired binding of A43T apoC-III to lipoproteins and accelerated renal catabolism of free apoC-III. Moreover, the reduced content of apoC-III in TRLs resulted in accelerated clearance of circulating TRLs. On the basis of this protective mechanism, we developed a monoclonal antibody targeting lipoprotein-bound human apoC-III that promotes circulating apoC-III clearance in mice expressing human APOC3 and enhances TRL catabolism in vivo. These data reveal the molecular mechanism by which a missense variant in APOC3 causes reduced circulating TG levels and, hence, protects from CHD. This protective mechanism has the potential to be exploited as a new therapeutic approach to reduce apoC-III levels and circulating TRL burden.

Year of Publication
2017
Journal
Nat Med
Volume
23
Issue
9
Pages
1086-1094
Date Published
2017 Sep
ISSN
1546-170X
DOI
10.1038/nm.4390
PubMed ID
28825717
PubMed Central ID
PMC5669375
Links
Grant list
R01 HL055323 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
F30 HL124967 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R01 HL134853 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R01 HL133502 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R37 HL055323 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
K01 HL125751 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
P30 DK019525 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States