APOL2 Gene

HGNC Family	Apolipoproteins (APO)
Name	apolipoprotein L, 2
Description	This gene is a member of the apolipoprotein L gene family. The encoded protein is found in the cytoplasm, where it may affect the movement of lipids or allow the binding of lipids to organelles. Two transcript variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Apolipoprotein L2 (APOL2) is a member of a primate‐specific gene cluster that also includes APOL1, APOL3, and APOL4. Early molecular cloning studies from activated endothelial cells revealed that APOL2, together with its cluster mates, is selectively expressed in human vascular tissue—a distribution that may help explain inter‐species differences in lipid metabolism."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In addition, gene expression profiling in gynecological malignancies demonstrated that APOL2 is upregulated in ovarian/peritoneal carcinoma compared to breast carcinoma, suggesting a potential role as a diagnostic marker or mediator in neoplastic processes."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Structural studies have further characterized the APOL family by determining the X‐ray and NMR structures of the N‐terminal domains of APOL1 and its closest relative APOL2. Both proteins share a conserved four‐helix core motif, although APOL2’s sequence contains a putative BH3 motif that, unlike those of its homologs, does not seem to contribute to apoptotic or autophagic signalling in cellular assays."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Moreover, genetic association studies in neuropsychiatric disorders have implicated variation in APOL family genes—in particular, APOL2—in schizophrenia, hinting at a broader role in cellular processes beyond lipid handling that may extend to neuronal function."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Together, these findings suggest that while APOL2 is clearly involved in endothelial function and may contribute to lipid regulatory pathways, its role in cell death regulation remains ambiguous. Emerging evidence also points to potential involvement in disease pathogenesis—from cancer to neuropsychiatric disorders—although further work is needed to precisely define its biological functions.\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Houshang Monajemi, Ruud D Fontijn, Hans Pannekoek, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The apolipoprotein L gene cluster has emerged recently in evolution and is expressed in human vascular tissue."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Genomics (2002)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1006/geno.2002.6729"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1006/geno.2002.6729"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "11944986"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11944986"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Ben Davidson, Helene Tuft Stavnes, Arild Holth, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Gene expression signatures differentiate ovarian/peritoneal serous carcinoma from breast carcinoma in effusions."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Cell Mol Med (2011)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1111/j.1582-4934.2010.01023.x"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1582-4934.2010.01023.x"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "20132413"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20132413"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Mark Ultsch, Michael J Holliday, Stefan Gerhardy, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Structures of the ApoL1 and ApoL2 N-terminal domains reveal a non-classical four-helix bundle motif."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Commun Biol (2021)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/s42003-021-02387-5"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02387-5"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "34316015"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34316015"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Galindo-Moreno, R Iurlaro, N El Mjiyad, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Apolipoprotein L2 contains a BH3-like domain but it does not behave as a BH3-only protein."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Death Dis (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/cddis.2014.237"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/cddis.2014.237"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "24901046"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24901046"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Sakae Takahashi, Yu-hu Cui, Yong-hua Han, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Association of SNPs and haplotypes in APOL1, 2 and 4 with schizophrenia."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Schizophr Res (2008)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.schres.2008.05.028"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2008.05.028"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "18632255"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18632255"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	APOL-II, APOL3
Proteins	APOL2_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	23780
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

APOL2 has 5,730 functional associations with biological entities spanning 8 categories (molecular profile, organism, chemical, functional term, phrase or reference, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA) extracted from 112 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for APOL2 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

APOL2 Gene

Functional Associations

Please acknowledge the Harmonizome in your publications by citing the following reference(s):

	Dataset	Summary
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles	tissue samples with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq	tissue samples with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other cell lines from the BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures	small molecule perturbations changing expression of APOL2 gene from the Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of APOL2 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of APOL2 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with APOL2 protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with APOL2 gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of APOL2 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of APOL2 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022	transcription factors binding the promoter of APOL2 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas	gene perturbations changing expression of APOL2 gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of APOL2 gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing APOL2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing APOL2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing APOL2 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components co-occuring with APOL2 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of APOL2 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with APOL2 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with APOL2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action	small molecule perturbations with high or low expression of APOL2 protein relative to other small molecule perturbations from the DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by APOL2 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases associated with APOL2 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with APOL2 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with APOL2 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases co-occuring with APOL2 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with APOL2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with APOL2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at APOL2 gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of APOL2 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of APOL2 gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing APOL2 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with APOL2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with APOL2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations dataset.