Cholesterol signaling

Cholesterol is a cell signaling molecule that is highly regulated in eukaryotic cell membranes.[1][2][3] In human health, its effects are most notable in inflammation, metabolic syndrome, and neurodegeneration.[4] At the molecular level, cholesterol primarily signals by regulating clustering of saturated lipids[5] and proteins that depend on spatial biology and clustering for their regulation.

Cholesterol signaling (brain); Astrocyte cholesterol is exported to the neuron where it causes clustering of lipids. Clustering activates enzymes and other proteins by substrate presentation.[6]
  1. ^ Wang, Hao; Kulas, Joshua A.; Wang, Chao; Holtzman, David M.; Ferris, Heather A.; Hansen, Scott B. (17 August 2021). "Regulation of beta-amyloid production in neurons by astrocyte-derived cholesterol". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118 (33): e2102191118. Bibcode:2021PNAS..11802191W. doi:10.1073/pnas.2102191118. PMC 8379952. PMID 34385305.
  2. ^ Liu, SL; Sheng, R; Jung, JH; Wang, L; Stec, E; O'Connor, MJ; Song, S; Bikkavilli, RK; Winn, RA; Lee, D; Baek, K; Ueda, K; Levitan, I; Kim, KP; Cho, W (March 2017). "Orthogonal lipid sensors identify transbilayer asymmetry of plasma membrane cholesterol". Nature Chemical Biology. 13 (3): 268–274. doi:10.1038/nchembio.2268. PMC 5912897. PMID 28024150.
  3. ^ Jefcoate, CR; Lee, J (May 2018). "Cholesterol signaling in single cells: lessons from STAR and sm-FISH". Journal of Molecular Endocrinology. 60 (4): R213–R235. doi:10.1530/JME-17-0281. PMC 6324173. PMID 29691317.
  4. ^ Eckel, RH; Grundy, SM; Zimmet, PZ (2005). "The metabolic syndrome". Lancet. 365 (9468): 1415–28. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)66378-7. PMID 15836891. S2CID 27542682.
  5. ^ Lingwood, D; Simons, K (1 January 2010). "Lipid rafts as a membrane-organizing principle". Science. 327 (5961): 46–50. Bibcode:2010Sci...327...46L. doi:10.1126/science.1174621. PMID 20044567. S2CID 35095032.
  6. ^ Wang, Hao; Kulas, Joshua A.; Wang, Chao; Holtzman, David M.; Ferris, Heather A.; Hansen, Scott B. (17 August 2021). "Regulation of beta-amyloid production in neurons by astrocyte-derived cholesterol". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118 (33): e2102191118. Bibcode:2021PNAS..11802191W. doi:10.1073/pnas.2102191118. PMC 8379952. PMID 34385305.