• Gryphon Login
  • MyCourses
  • Alumni
  • UCLA Health
  • Contact Us
Prospective Students

Prospective Students

Prospective Students
  • Admissions
    Procedure & Timelines
    • Admissions Timeline
    • Admissions Procedure
    • Basis of Selection
    • COVID-19 Impacts on Admissions
    • Housing Information
    • Interview Process
    • Prerequisites
    General Information
    • Statement of Diversity
    • Mission Statement
    • Curriculum Resdesign
    • Honor Code
    • FAQs
    • Admissions Brochure
    • Admissions Timeline
    • Admission Procedure
    • Basis of Selection
    • Competencies
    • COVID-19 Impact on Admissions
    • DACA Applicants
    • DGSOM Mission Statement
    • Equity and Diversity Inclusion
    • FAQs
    • Honor Code
    • Housing Information
    • Interview Process
    • Virtual Events
  • Outreach & Pipeline Programs
    Summer Pre-Health and Postbaccaluareate Programs
    • UCLA SHPEP
    • UCLA PREP
    • UCLA RAP
    Outreach and Recruitment
    • Contact and Events
    • Mailing List
    • Summer Pre-Health and Postbaccalaureate Programs
    • Stay Connected
    • Join our Mailing List
  • Financial Aid & Scholarships
  • Degrees & Programs
  • Curriculum
  • Student Life
    Why Choose UCLA
    • Research
    • Clinical Work
    • Service Opportunities
    • Global Health Impact
    • Why You'll Love LA
    Campus Life
    • Student Organizations
    • Annual Events
    • Day in the Life
    • Around Campus
    • Photo Galleries
    • Medical and Research News
    • Medical Student Council
    • Geffy Guide
    • Search Campus and Health News
    • Service Opportunities
    • Global Health Impact
    • Why You'll Love LA
    • Photo Galleries
    • Day in the Life
    • Around Campus
    • Medical and Research News
    • Search Campus and Health News
  • How to Apply
  • Gryphon Login
  • MyCourses
  • Alumni
  • UCLA Health
  • Contact Us

Prospective Students

Search Campus and Health News

Search Campus and Health News

Search Campus and Health News

  • Health News
  • A Day in the Life
  • Around Campus
  • Medical and Research News
  • Health News
  • A Day in the Life
  • Around Campus
  • Medical and Research News
  1. Home
  2. Prospective Students
  3. Student Life
  4. Search Campus and Health News

Search Campus and Health News

Share this

Medical and Research News

Title

Visualizing the effects of cholesterol on cells

Medical and Research News

Date
07/14/2017
Article
Visualizing the effects of cholesterol on cells

Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death for Americans, and high cholesterol plays a major role in a person's risk for developing heart disease. Doctors and researchers have been trying to understand the effects of cholesterol on a person's risk for coronary artery disease.

Research by scientists at UCLA and the University of Western Australia has developed a new way of seeing how cholesterol moves in and out of cells. By better understanding how cholesterol moves through cells and where it pools, researchers can continue to develop new treatment options for high cholesterol.

The cholesterol–heart disease connection

The American Heart Association says that 2,100 Americans die of heart disease every day. But many people can greatly lower their risk with lifestyle changes, particularly by lowering cholesterol. When people aren't able to lower their cholesterol through lifestyle, doctors prescribe medications, most commonly statins.

For patients, the advice on the effects of cholesterol can be conflicting and often confusing. Just last year, a study published in BMJ Open claimed there was no link between cholesterol and heart disease. That news was picked up by multiple media outlets.

However, most doctors know there is a link between cholesterol and heart disease, but they don't know the exact mechanisms of the link. Learning how the two are linked can help develop new, more effective treatment options, as well as clear up some of the conflicting messages.

Visualizing cholesterol in the body

That's where the latest research at UCLA is making an impact. Using a form of high-resolution imaging mass spectrometry, called NanoSIMS imaging, researchers were able to visualize how cholesterol moves in and out of cells and where it collects. They were able to quantify a pool of cholesterol called "accessible cholesterol," which sits on the cells' surface. Scientists think that this pool of cholesterol regulates cellular cholesterol production and affects the ability of cells to unload excess cholesterol.

In their visualization, researchers found that the pools of cholesterol tend to concentrate on microvilli, specialized projections from the cell's plasma membrane. Stephen Young, MD, the study's co-author and a professor of medicine and human genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, says other researchers have suspected that microvilli play a role in moving cholesterol in and out of cells. This current research also supports that idea.

The visualization provided with NanoSIMS imaging will complement future research to see how cells dispose of excess cholesterol and may help researchers understand the connection between having an excess of this essential lipid and the risk for heart attack or stroke.

By Patricia Chaney

Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest Follow us on Flickr Follow us on Sharecare
Top 10 U.S. Medical Schools
  • Giving
  • Publications
  • Newsroom
  • Weekly Digest
  • Directory
  • Contact Us
  • Diversity
  • Emergency
  • Maps & Directions
  • UC Regents
  • Abuse Free
  • Volunteer
  • Biomed Library
  • Disability Resources
  • UCLA Health
  • Smoke-Free
  • Sitemap
  • Terms of Use
Top 10 U.S. Medical Schools
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest Follow us on Flickr Follow us on Sharecare