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Gene

APOL1

apolipoprotein L1

Summary

Cytogenetic location
22q12.3
Coordinates
Chromosome 22: 36,253,133–36,267,525 (GRCh38)
Exons
6 exons across 14.4 kb
Protein
398 amino acids
Inheritance
Autosomal recessive
Previous symbols
APOL
MANE Select transcript
ENST00000397278.8NM_003661.4
Locus type
gene with protein product
  • Very high
  • Confident
  • Low
  • Very low

Reference genomeGRCh38

Positions on gene and variant pages follow this choice, in this browser.

Curated report relevant to this gene

  • Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis

    • FSGS Susceptibility (APOL1)Autosomal recessive

      Two APOL1 risk variants (G1 or G2) markedly increase the risk of FSGS and other non-diabetic kidney disease, mainly in people with recent African ancestry; most people with this genotype never develop kidney disease.

      • ClinGen rates the link definitive
      • 2 GenCC submitters rate it definitive or strong
      What knowing changes

      Knowing can prompt blood pressure and kidney function monitoring and informs evaluation of living kidney donors.

Inheritance

Autosomal recessive
It takes a changed copy from each parent. With one, you are a carrier and usually unaffected; when both parents are carriers, each child has a one-in-four chance of inheriting two.

How APOL1 is laid out

  • Coding sequence
  • Untranslated region
  • Intron
  • Direction of transcription
  • Known disease-causing sites
  • Stretches short reads find hard
Chromosome 22, with a bracket where APOL1 sits. APOL1 and 10 genes near it on chromosome 22, from 35,760,329 to 36,760,328.Chromosome 2222q12.3p13p12p11.2p11.1q11.1q11.21q11.22q11.23q12.1q12.2q12.3q13.1q13.2q13.31q13.32q13.3335.8 Mb36 Mb36.2 Mb36.4 Mb36.6 MbRBFOX2: 35,738,736–36,028,824, reverse strandRBFOX2APOL3: 36,139,792–36,166,177, reverse strandAPOL3APOL4: 36,189,124–36,204,840, reverse strandAPOL4APOL2: 36,220,307–36,239,954, reverse strandAPOL2APOL1: 36,253,133–36,267,525, forward strandAPOL1MYH9: 36,281,277–36,388,018, reverse strandMYH9TXN2: 36,466,895–36,482,072, reverse strandTXN2FOXRED2: 36,487,190–36,507,221, reverse strandFOXRED2EIF3D: 36,510,847–36,529,245, reverse strandEIF3DCACNG2: 36,560,857–36,703,779, reverse strandCACNG2IFT27: 36,741,346–36,776,309, reverse strandIFT27Diagram of APOL1: 6 exons on the forward strand of chromosome 22Exon 6: 3 known disease-causing sitesExon 1: 36,253,133–36,253,219, 87 basesExon 2: 36,254,937–36,254,999, 63 basesExon 3: 36,257,083–36,257,136, 54 basesExon 4: 36,257,319–36,257,407, 89 basesExon 5: 36,261,596–36,261,722, 127 basesExon 6: 36,265,151–36,267,525, 2,375 bases1234565′3′

Exons of the gene's MANE Select transcript (release v1.5), from NCBI and EMBL-EBI, on the GRCh38 reference genome.

Chromosome bands from UCSC's GRCh38 ideogram (2022-10-29).

Nearby genes from Ensembl release 116, on GRCh38.

Exons make up 2.8 kb of the gene's 14.4 kb; 1,197 of those bases code for the protein.

How a genome test reads APOL1

3

positions in APOL1 where ClinVar classes a change as pathogenic or likely pathogenic

None of them falls in a region short reads find hard.

A whole genome covers all 14.4 kb of APOL1, introns included, not only the 2.8 kb of exons.

Where this comes from

  • HGNC: the gene's symbol, name, other symbols and location.
  • MANE Select v1.5, from NCBI and EMBL-EBI: the transcript, its exons and coding sequence.
  • GenCC and ClinGen, released 2026-10-16: which conditions the gene is linked to, and how strongly.
  • The ACMG secondary findings list, SF v3.2.
  • ClinVar and the GIAB stratifications: known disease-causing sites, and the regions short reads find hard.
  • The Human Phenotype Ontology, release 2026-09-01: the traits linked to the gene. Find out more at hpo.jax.org.
  • Data release 2026.10.16-c6eea6bf.

Cite this page

APA

Dante Labs. (n.d.). APOL1 gene: apolipoprotein L1. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://dantelabs.com/genes/apol1

Vancouver

Dante Labs. APOL1 gene: apolipoprotein L1 [Internet]. [cited 16 October 2026]. Available from: https://dantelabs.com/genes/apol1

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