A New Mouse Model of APOL1-Associated Kidney Diseases: When Traffic Gets Snarled, the Podocyte Suffers

Variants in APOL1, the gene encoding apolipoprotein L1, associate with nondiabetic kidney diseases in African Americans.1,2 Genetic and epidemiologic evidence support a kidney disease model with striking parallels to the genetic basis of sickle cell disease. The APOL1 kidney disease risk variants became common in sub-Saharan Africa because a single copy of the risk allele is trypanolytic and prevents African sleeping sickness. However, only individuals with 2 copies of the variants, consistent with a recessive mode of inheritance, are at risk for developing kidney diseases.

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