Sterol

About: Sterol is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8117 publications have been published within this topic receiving 309926 citations. The topic is also known as: sterols & sterol lipids.

Sterol content of foods of plant origin

Abstract: Available data on phytosterols from the world's literature have been compiled and summarized. There still exists a paucity of data on the quantities of plant sterols in many foods. More extensive data are available on the relative sterol composition. Our compilation shows that plant oils are excellent sources of phytosterols. Nuts and seeds contain moderate levels, and fruits and vegetables generally contain the lowest concentrations of plant sterols. Analyses of the minor sterols, namely, the delta5- and delta7-phytosterols, have become available only recently.

Feedback regulation of cholesterol synthesis: sterol-accelerated ubiquitination and degradation of HMG CoA reductase

Abstract: 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase produces mevalonate, an important intermediate in the synthesis of cholesterol and essential nonsterol isoprenoids. The reductase is subject to an exorbitant amount of feedback control through multiple mechanisms that are mediated by sterol and nonsterol end-products of mevalonate metabolism. Here, I will discuss recent advances that shed light on one mechanism for control of reductase, which involves rapid degradation of the enzyme. Accumulation of certain sterols triggers binding of reductase to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane proteins called Insig-1 and Insig-2. Reductase-Insig binding results in recruitment of a membrane-associated ubiquitin ligase called gp78, which initiates ubiquitination of reductase. This ubiquitination is an obligatory reaction for recognition and degradation of reductase from ER membranes by cytosolic 26S proteasomes. Thus, sterol-accelerated degradation of reductase represents an example of how a general cellular process (ER-associated degradation) is used to control an important metabolic pathway (cholesterol synthesis).

Mutations in the 3β-Hydroxysterol Δ24-Reductase Gene Cause Desmosterolosis, an Autosomal Recessive Disorder of Cholesterol Biosynthesis

Abstract: Desmosterolosis is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by multiple congenital anomalies. Patients with desmosterolosis have elevated levels of the cholesterol precursor desmosterol, in plasma, tissue, and cultured cells; this abnormality suggests a deficiency of the enzyme 3β-hydroxysterol Δ24-reductase (DHCR24), which, in cholesterol biosynthesis, catalyzes the reduction of the Δ24 double bond of sterol intermediates. We identified the human DHCR24 cDNA, by the similarity between the encoded protein and a recently characterized plant enzyme—DWF1/DIM, from Arabidopsis thaliana—catalyzing a different but partially similar reaction in steroid/sterol biosynthesis in plants. Heterologous expression, in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, of the DHCR24 cDNA, followed by enzyme-activity measurements, confirmed that it encodes DHCR24. The encoded DHCR24 protein has a calculated molecular weight of 60.1 kD, contains a potential N-terminal secretory-signal sequence as well as at least one putative transmembrane helix, and is a member of a recently defined family of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)–dependent oxidoreductases. Conversion of desmosterol to cholesterol by DHCR24 in vitro is strictly dependent on reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and is increased twofold by the addition of FAD to the assay. The corresponding gene, DHCR24, was identified by database searching, spans ∼46.4 kb, is localized to chromosome 1p31.1-p33, and comprises nine exons and eight introns. Sequence analysis of DHCR24 in two patients with desmosterolosis revealed four different missense mutations, which were shown, by functional expression, in yeast, of the patient alleles, to be disease causing. Our data demonstrate that desmosterolosis is a cholesterol-biosynthesis disorder caused by mutations in DHCR24.