Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients often develop steatosis and the HCV core protein alone can induce this phenomenon. To gain new insights into the pathways leading to steatosis, we performed lipidomic profiling of HCV core protein expressing-Huh-7 cells and also assessed the lipid profile of purified lipid droplets isolated from HCV 3a core expressing cells. Cholesteryl esters, ceramide...

A series of novel quinoline-3-carboxamide derivatives 10-17 and 23-27 were designed and synthesized as cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors. All of them exhibited activity against CETP. Particularly, compounds 24 and 26 displayed the best activity against CETP with the same inhibitory rate of 80.1%.

Roche and Japan Tobacco are in a licensing agreement to develop and commercialize dalcetrapib, a cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor to slow or prevent atherosclerosis. This drug is currently in phase III development. This review discusses the development history and scientific profile of this new compound.

Schistosoma japonicum, once endemic all the East Asia, remains as a serious public health problem in certain regions. Ectopic egg embryonation in the liver causes granulomatosis and eventually fatal cirrhosis, so that prevention of this process is one of the keys to reduce its mortality. The embryonation requires cholesteryl ester from HDL of the host blood for egg yolk formation, and this reac...

Dysregulated macrophage cholesterol homoeostasis lies at the heart of early and developing atheroma, and removal of excess cholesterol from macrophage foam cells, by efficient transport mechanisms, is central to stabilization and regression of atherosclerotic lesions. The present study demonstrates that transient overexpression of STARD3 {START [StAR (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein)-rel...

The action of a bacterial acyltransferase similar in overall reaction mechanism to the plasma enzyme lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) has been studied using normal plasma and lipoproteins and plasma from LCAT-deficient patients. The microbial enzyme (GCAT) catalyzed acyl transfer using phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol in all of the lipoprotein fractions, presumably because it has ...