protein
Cholesterol transporter ABCA5
Gene
ABCA5
Organism
Homo sapiens(9606)
Length
1642 aa
Mass
186,508 Da
ABCA5 is a cholesterol efflux transporter that facilitates the formation of apoA-I/high-density lipoprotein particles at the plasma membrane and participates in reverse cholesterol transport (UniProt: Q8WWZ7). The protein may also contribute to autolysosome processing. It is expressed in macrophages and other tissues involved in lipid metabolism.
ABCA5 has been identified as down-regulated in Alzheimer's Disease based on proteomics analysis of human post-mortem AD brain tissue compared to age-matched controls (Chaparral AD proteomics). The protein shows a mean log2 fold-change of −0.38 across detected subcellular fractions, indicating modest but consistent reduction in AD brain samples.
The down-regulation of cholesterol transport and reverse cholesterol metabolism genes has previously been associated with neuroinflammatory and amyloid pathology in AD. ABCA5's role in lipid homeostasis and potential involvement in autophagy-related processes suggests its reduced abundance may contribute to altered neuronal lipid metabolism and lysosomal dysfunction in disease pathology.
Generated from the curated entity record below. May contain errors — verify against source links.
Proteomics Evidence · AD
↓ Down in ADP3
not detected
P2
-0.383
S2
not detected
S3
not detected
Mean log₂FC across detected fractions: -0.3827 (1 of 4 fractions detected)
Human post-mortem AD brain vs age-matched controls, TMT-labeled, 4 subcellular fractions (P2, P3, S2, S3), DDA proteomics.
Related Publications
Browse all →Tau molecular diversity contributes to clinical heterogeneity in Alzheimer's disease.
Dujardin Simon et al.Nature medicine2020PMID 32572268Deep Multilayer Brain Proteomics Identifies Molecular Networks in Alzheimer's Disease Progression.
Bai Bing et al.Neuron2020PMID 31926610A Multi-network Approach Identifies Protein-Specific Co-expression in Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Alzheimer's Disease.
Seyfried Nicholas T et al.Cell systems2017PMID 27989508Large-scale deep multi-layer analysis of Alzheimer's disease brain reveals strong proteomic disease-related changes not observed at the RNA level.
Johnson Erik C B et al.Nature neuroscience2022PMID 35115731Organization and regulation of gene transcription.
Cramer PatrickNature2019PMID 31462772
Function
Cholesterol efflux transporter in macrophages that is responsible for APOAI/high-density lipoproteins (HDL) formation at the plasma membrane under high cholesterol levels and participates in reverse cholesterol transport (PubMed:25125465). May play a role in the processing of autolysosomes (By similarity)
Sources
Last updated 5/8/2026, 6:39:28 AM