Silencing a gene could lower cholesterol
Durable repression of a gene that has a role in controlling cholesterol levels, achieved without permanent genome editing, has been demonstrated in a mouse study published in Nature this week.
Durable repression of a gene that has a role in controlling cholesterol levels, achieved without permanent genome editing, has been demonstrated in a mouse study published in Nature this week.
Biotechnology
Feb 29, 2024
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Humans have been fermenting food and drinks—everything from kimchi and yogurt to beer and kombucha—for more than 13,000 years.
Biochemistry
Dec 19, 2023
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Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have found how human cells distribute and maintain their cholesterol levels, contributing to research into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 28, 2023
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A University of Massachusetts Amherst biomedical engineer has used a nanogel-based carrier designed in his lab to deliver a drug exclusively to the liver of obese mice, effectively reversing their diet-induced disease.
Bio & Medicine
Aug 29, 2023
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Though cholesterol can threaten human health, this waxy substance is one of the most important small molecules in human physiology and plays myriad critical roles in biology and medicine. Its dynamics are critical for the ...
Biochemistry
Aug 2, 2023
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Debra Stewart walked toward a horse paddock with a bag of carrots in hand. Whisper, a splashed chocolate and white paint horse, met her at the fence.
Ecology
Jul 25, 2023
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75
A recent Nature Communications paper by the Stoffel group (IMHS) in collaboration with the Tuschl and Chao labs reports the development of viP-CLIP, a method capable of identifying RBP networks in tissues, and the identification ...
Biotechnology
Jun 12, 2023
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3
Cholesterol and phytosterol are sterols, fatty compounds essential for many biological processes such as the functioning of cell membranes. Up to now, it has been assumed that phytosterols are characteristic for plants, and ...
Plants & Animals
May 4, 2023
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Excessive cholesterol absorption from intestinal lumen contributes to the pathogenesis of hypercholesterolemia, which is a well-established risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The absorption of intestinal ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 28, 2023
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3
Houston Methodist scientists reversed infertility in sterile mice by reducing high-circulating cholesterol with a bacterial protein, showing further evidence that links high cholesterol to female infertility. This is a promising ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 14, 2023
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114
Cholesterol is a lipidic, waxy steroid found in the cell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. It is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and fluidity. Cholesterol is the principal sterol synthesized by animals, but small quantities are synthesized in other eukaryotes, such as plants and fungi. It is almost completely absent among prokaryotes, which include bacteria. Cholesterol is classified as a sterol.
Since cholesterol is essential for life, it is primarily synthesized de novo within the body. However excessive levels of cholesterol in blood circulation are strongly associated with progression of atherosclerosis. For an adult, typical total body cholesterol synthesis is about 1 gram per day (less if dietary intake is high) and total body cholesterol content is about 35 g. Average dietary intake in western societies is 0.2 - 0.3 grams. Cholesterol is excreted by the liver via the bile into the digestive tract. Typically about 50% of the excreted cholesterol is reabsorbed by the small bowel back into the blood stream.
The name cholesterol originates from the Greek chole- (bile) and stereos (solid), and the chemical suffix -ol for an alcohol, as François Poulletier de la Salle first identified cholesterol in solid form in gallstones, in 1769. However, it was only in 1815 that chemist Eugène Chevreul named the compound "cholesterine".
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