Discovery of the cellular and molecular basis of cholesterol control.

The cellular control of cholesterol metabolism mediated by lipoproteins was first appreciated in pioneering work published in a 1974 PNAS Classic by Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein. We know from this paper that the LDL binds to a cell surface receptor and dampens the activity of a key enzyme in cholesterol biosynthesis and that a receptor deficiency is responsible for a major genetic cause of hypercholesterolemia and premature atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America is the property of National Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)