Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

A High-Throughput Luciferase Assay to Evaluate Proteolysis of the Single-Turnover Protease PCSK9
Published on: August 28, 2018
Sequence variation in proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 serine protease gene, low LDL cholesterol, and
Aaron R Folsom1, James M Peacock, Eric Boerwinkle
1Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South 2nd Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. folsom@epi.umn.edu
Abstract:
Some prospective epidemiologic studies have suggested that a low plasma cholesterol level may be associated with increased risk of cancer. Certain sequence variants in the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 serine protease gene (PCSK9) are associated with lifelong low total and LDL cholesterol. We therefore analyzed the association of PCSK9 variation with incidence of cancer between 1987 and 2000 in a prospective study (n=13,250). The frequency of the PCSK9 variants studied was 2.4% in blacks and 3.2% in whites. Neither was associated with increased cancer incidence: age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratios were 0.66 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.31-1.39] in blacks and 0.77 (95% CI, 0.54-1.09) in whites. Low baseline total or LDL cholesterol levels in 1987 to 1989 were also not statistically significantly associated with incident cancer: multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios for the lowest compared with the highest quartiles of LDL cholesterol were 1.05 (95% CI, 0.78-1.40) in blacks and 1.16 (95% CI, 0.99-1.36) in whites. These data suggest that a lifelong low cholesterol concentration, as reflected by these PCSK9 variants, does not increase risk of cancer.
Related Concept Videos
RNA Splicing
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Gene Conversion
Non-LTR Retrotransposons
Pharmacogenetic Phenotypes: Alterations in Pharmacokinetics, Drug Targets and Biologic Milieu
