New role of cholesterol in regulating brain proteins discovered
A study led by researchers at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and the Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics at the Faculty of Medicine in Charité Hospital, Berlin, published in the journal Nature Communications, demonstrates that the cholesterol present in cell membranes can interfere with the function of an important brain membrane protein, through a previously unknown mode of interaction.
Specifically, cholesterol is capable of regulating the activity of the adenosine receptor, by invading it and accessing the active site. This will allow new ways of interacting with these proteins to be devised that in the future could lead to drugs for treating diseases like Alzheimer's.
Source and further reading:
https://www.imim.cat/news/247/new-role-of-cholesterol-in-regulating-brain-proteins-discovered
Journal article:
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14505
#neuroscience #research #braincells #cholesterol #brainproteins
Antenna Wilde: HDL's and LDL's transport lipids in general. Cholesterol is a specific molecule that both transport.
ReplyDeleteAlas, Antenna Wilde, it's been 20 years since I took clinical pharmacology and a lot has changed since then: I totally can't answer that.
ReplyDeleteStatins function by blocking the enzyme in your liver that naturally produces cholesterol for your bodily functions.
ReplyDeleteThe drug essentially reduces your total cholesterol number, without addressing your high-density lipoproteins (HDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) or triglyceride levels. Statins may also trigger neuromuscular disease.
Yow. Now I'm off to read about statins and neuromuscular diseases.
ReplyDeleteMaybe statins should only be prescribed sparingly, if at all? It is a shame money is such an influence on medicine, when it should be about getting people better, which can be through healthier lifestyles and diets - education not medication
ReplyDelete