Penn biophysicists create new model for protein-cholesterol interactions in brain and mus...(olecular Modeling said. We found that t...)

Assuming that cholesterol-shaped holes may indicate a role for cholesterol, researchers began massive simulations on the protein with and without cholesterol present and found that only with cholesterol does the protein behave as expected from experimental data.

This result could also have important implications for understanding recent data indicating that low cholesterol in brain cells has harmful effects on memory, concentration and mood. Twenty-five percent of cholesterol within the body is found in brain cells, where it seems to perform many important roles. Most of the theories for how cholesterol improves the function of brain cells have focused on its effect on the membranes that enclose these cells, but this work suggests that cholesterol may play a much more direct role by burying itself within some of the proteins that are necessary for cells to communicate.

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