Lipoprotein Signaling & Cholesterol Metabolism

Cholesterol builds and maintains cellular membranes, and defines some of their physical and biochemical properties. Lipoproteins transport cholesterol and triglyercides throughout a mammalian organism. Cholesterol is essential to life, but a high cholesterol level, known as hypercholesterolemia, strongly associates with cardiovascular disease. Excess cholesterol deposited in arterial walls recruits macrophages, causing inflammation and fibrosis to form atherosclerotic plaques (atheromas), leading to atherosclerosis. Cholesterol sources include de novo biosynthesis and intestinal absorption. There are no identified mechanisms for cholesterol catabolism other than excretion from the body or oxidation to oxysterols with different functions. The body transports new and recycled cholesterol with the help of lipoproteins. The 2 most commonly known lipoprotein particles are the Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and the High Density Lipoprotein (HDL). LDL carries cholesterol from the liver to all other cells of the body. HDL collects cholesterol from the body's tissues, and brings it back to the liver for storage. Complex signaling pathways drive processes to move cholesterol-containing lipoprotein particles from one organ to another and use or store cholesterol once it arrives at its destination. Given their shared roles in controlling cholesterol localization, lipoprotein signaling and cholesterol metabolism are inexorably linked and are often studied together.

QIAGEN provides a broad range of assay technologies for lipoprotein signaling and cholesterol metabolism research that enables analysis of gene expression and regulation, epigenetic modification, genotyping, and signal transduction pathway activation. Solutions optimized for lipoprotein signaling and cholesterol metabolism studies include PCR array, miRNA, siRNA, mutation analysis, pathway reporter, chromatin IP, DNA methylation, and protein expression products.