Disrupted Lipid Homeostasis as a Pathogenic Mechanism in ABCA7-Associated Alzheimers Disease Risk
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INTRODUCTION: ABCA7 (ATP-binding cassette sub-family A member 7) encodes a lipid transporter linked to Alzheimers disease (AD). While common variants confer modest risk in Europeans, a 44-base pair deletion (rs142076058; p.Arg578Alafs) is a strong risk factor in African Americans (AA). Despite this, the biological consequences of this ancestry-specific variant are not well understood. METHODS: We expressed the truncated ABCA7 protein in HEK and HepG2 cells to assess localization and lipid metabolism. Additionally, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons carrying the deletion were compared with isogenic controls. RESULTS: The truncated ABCA7 localized to the plasma membrane similarly to wild type but induced significant lipid droplet accumulation in HepG2 cells and iPSC-derived neurons. DISCUSSION: These findings show that the AA-specific ABCA7 deletion disrupts lipid regulation despite normal localization, suggesting a mechanistic link between impaired lipid homeostasis and increased AD risk. This work underscores the importance of ancestry-specific studies in AD research.
