title: Apolipoprotein E phylogeny and evolution.
abstract: Among apolipoproteins, apolipoprotein E (Apo E) plays a pivotal role in lipid transport and is proposed to be involved in neural repair. Because of a long divergence history of apolipoproteins, it is unclear how Apo E evolved in time. To investigate relationships among Apo E proteins, we used the information from molecular data and analysed the phylogeny of Apo E proteins from various species. Several phylogenetic trees were generated by using both character-based and distance-based phylogenetic methods. Apo E sequences of fish and frog were found to be less related to the Apo E sequences of other species. The most likely ancestor of Apo E among 18 organisms was estimated to be the Apo E of frog. Members of the groups formed by the Apo E proteins of various species shared similar feeding habits and diet. It may be suggested that Apo E evolution and very likely the evolution of other apolipoproteins are influenced by the organism's feeding environment and diet.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli University, Umuttepe, Kocaeli, Turkey. mkasap@vt.edu
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasap
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sazci
authors.forename: Gurler
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Akpinar
authors.forename: Emel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ergul
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D006922:Hylobates; D051379:Mice; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D010802:Phylogeny; D011148:Pongo pygmaeus; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D001057:Apolipoproteins E; D002784:Cholesterol