APOL6 is an apolipoprotein L family protein located in the cytoplasm. The available functional annotation is brief and cautious: it may affect the movement of lipids within the cytoplasm, or it may allow lipids to bind to organelles. In other words, APOL6 is proposed to act in intracellular lipid handling rather than as a classical circulating lipoprotein component, although the annotation does not define a precise mechanism.

The APOL6 gene encodes a protein of the apolipoprotein L family, and HGNC places it in the Apolipoproteins gene group. Researchers studying the APOL6 protein or the APOL6 gene will find that the family relationship is the main established context. Other members of the family include APOL1, APOL2 and APOL4, which are useful comparators when examining family-wide features or distinguishing one member from another.

The approved name is apolipoprotein L6, and the protein is also referred to as APOL-VI or APOLVI in the literature. The gene description was provided by RefSeq in 2008 and, as with the UniProt annotation, describes a possible role in lipid movement and organelle binding. Because the characterised function is limited, work on APOL6 often relies on well-controlled detection tools, such as an APOL6 antibody or APOL6 ELISA kit, to establish where and when the protein is present in a given experimental system.