Desmosterol is a molecule similar to
cholesterol
Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell mem ...
. Desmosterol is the immediate precursor of cholesterol in the Bloch pathway of
cholesterol biosynthesis.
24-dehydrocholesterol reductase catalyses the reduction of desmosterol to cholesterol. It is accumulated in
desmosterolosis
Desmosterolosis in medicine and biology is a defect in cholesterol biosynthesis. It results in an accumulation of desmosterol and a variety of associated symptoms. Only two cases have been reported as of 2007. The condition is due to inactivating ...
.
In 2014, it was named the
Molecule of the Year
The Breakthrough of the Year is an annual award for the most significant development in scientific research made by the AAAS journal ''Science,'' an academic journal covering all branches of science. Originating in 1989 as the ''Molecule of the Ye ...
2012 by the International Society for Molecular and Cell Biology and Biotechnology Protocols and Researches (
ISMCBBPR
The Breakthrough of the Year is an annual award for the most significant development in scientific research made by the AAAS journal ''Science,'' an academic journal covering all branches of science. Originating in 1989 as the ''Molecule of the Ye ...
).
See also
*
Triparanol
Triparanol (, ; brand name and development code MER/29, as well as many other brand names) was the first synthetic cholesterol-lowering drug. It was patented in 1959 and introduced in the United States in 1960. The developmental code name of trip ...
References
Cholestanes
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