cholesterol tagged posts

Cholesterol manufactured in the brain appears to play a key role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, new research indicates.

Scientists from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and their collaborators found that cholesterol produced by astrocytes is required for controlling the production of amyloid beta, a sticky protein that builds up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s. The protein accumulates into insoluble plaques that are a hallmark of the disease. Many efforts have targeted these plaques in the hope that removing or preventing them could treat or prevent Alzheimer’s.

The new findings offer important insights into how and why the plaques for...

Discovery could be a major step in developing therapies for cancer, controlling cholesterol. Columbia University scientists, in collaboration with researchers from Nimbus Therapeutics, have demystified a metabolic enzyme that could be the next major molecular target in cancer treatment.

The team has successfully determined the 3D structure of human ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY) – which plays a key role in cancer cell proliferation and other cellular processes – for the first time...

This is a fruit fly.
Credit: Carnegie Institution for Science

Body organs such as the intestine and ovaries undergo structural changes in response to dietary nutrients that can have lasting impacts on metabolism, as well as cancer susceptibility, according to Carnegie’s Rebecca Obniski, Matthew Sieber, and Allan Spradling. Their work, published by Developmental Cell, used fruit flies, which are currently the most-sensitive experimental system for such detecting diet-induced cellular changes that are likely to be similar in mammals.

There are 3 major types of cells in fruit fly (and mammalian) intestines: Stem cells, hormone-producing cells, and nutrient-handling cells...

Reductions in Atherogenic Lipids and Major Cardiovascular Events A Pooled Analysis of 10 ODYSSEY Trials Comparing Alirocumab With Control Credit: Imperial College London

Although previous studies have suggested lowering cholesterol levels may be associated with a lower risk of heart attack, recent evidence has questioned whether very low levels are beneficial.
In the latest study, led by scientists at Imperial College London, researchers analysed data from over 5,000 people taking part in cholesterol-lowering trials. These studies utilised a new therapy to reduce cholesterol to much lower levels than previously possible.

The scientists found that dropping cholesterol to the lowest level possible – to levels similar to those we were born with – reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke or fa...