title: Mitochondrial cholesterol in health and disease.
abstract: Cholesterol is a critical component of biological membranes, which not only plays an essential role in determining membrane physical properties, but also in the regulation of multiple signaling pathways. Cells satisfy their need for cholesterol either by uptake from nutrients and lipoproteins or de novo synthesis from acetyl-CoA. The latter process occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum, where transcription factors that regulate the expression of enzymes involved in the de novo cholesterol synthesis reside. Cholesterol is distributed to different membranes most prominently to plasma membrane, where it participates in the physical organization of specific membrane domains. Mitochondria, however, are considered cholesterol-poor organelles, and obtain their cholesterol load by the action of specialized proteins involved in its delivery from extramitochondrial sources and trafficking within mitochondrial membranes. Although mitochondrial cholesterol fulfills vital physiological functions, such as the synthesis of bile acids in the liver or the formation of steroid hormones in specialized tissues, recent evidence indicates that the accumulation of cholesterol in mitochondria may be a key step in disease progression, including steatohepatitis, carcinogenesis or Alzheimer disease.
authors.affiliation: Liver Unit and Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas Esther Koplowitz, IMDiM, Hospital Clínic i Provincial and CIBEREHD, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garcia-Ruiz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mari
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colell
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montero
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Terrones
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Basañez
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fernández-Checa
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000378:metabolism; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol