Apolipoprotein C-IV, also known as apolipoprotein C4, is a protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 that in humans is encoded by the APOC4 gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

.

Function

Apolipoprotein (apo)C4 gene is a member of the apolipoprotein C

Apolipoprotein C

In the field of molecular biology, apolipoprotein C is a family of four low molecular weight apolipoproteins, designated as C-I, C-II, C-III, and C-IV that are surface components of chylomicrons, VLDL, and HDL. In the fasting state, the C apolipoproteins are mainly associated with HDL...

gene family. It is expressed in the liver and has a predicted protein structure characteristic of the other genes in this family. Apo C4 is a 3.3-kb gene consisting of 3 exons and 2 introns; it is located 0.5 kb 5' to the APOC2 gene.