Schematic illustration of the biological properties of apoE. ApoE acts on adipocytes to maintain the triglyceride homeostasis; acts on hepatocytes to promote very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) production and lipoprotein clearance; modulates the functions of macrophages (MΦ); suppresses the proliferation of T cells; maintains the integrity of blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-nerve barrier (BNB); inhibits the proliferation of smooth muscle (SM) cells; upregulates the production of nitric oxide (NO) of platelets; facilitates the presentation of lipid antigen by CD1 molecules to natural killer T (NKT) cells; and so forth. ↑ denotes upregulation or induction; ↓ downregulation or inhibition; IL denotes interleukin; TNF-α denotes tumor necrosis factor alpha; MHC denotes major histocompatibility complex.
