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Team finds receptor for ‘good cholesterol’

Robert C. Di Iorio:

Researchers at MIT and at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas have identified a cell-surface receptor for high density lipoprotein (HDL), the «good cholesterol» whose presence in the blood is associated with a low risk for atherosclerosis.

The finding of the long-sought receptor might eventually lead to an understanding of how HDL helps prevent clogged arteries.

But that day is far in the future, warned Professor Monty Krieger of the Department of Biology, in whose laboratory the work at MIT was conducted.

«Much work remains to be done before we will be able to clearly define this new receptor’s role in HDL metabolism and determine if it participates in metabolic pathways related to atherosclerosis,» Professor Krieger said.

Atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in Western industrialized countries, is characterized by the build-up of cholesterol and similar fatty compounds on the walls of the arteries. The risk of developing the disease depends in large measure on the relative amount of two particles, called lipoproteins, which carry cholesterol through the bloodstream. HDL is one of those proteins. The other is low density lipoprotein (LDL), known as «bad cholesterol» because the risk for atherosclerosis increases as the amounts of LDL in the blood increase.