New research has shown that compounds that affect cellular energy status could also be used to treat hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Metformin, which is used to treat type II diabetes, and 5-amino-1-β-D-ribofuranosyl-1H-imidazole-4-carboxamide (AICAR), which has been shown to mimic…
Blog Archives
Cholesterol – All in the Mind?
Cholesterol is essential for all animal life but high levels of cholesterol – when associated with low density lipoprotein (LDL) – are linked to an increased risk of atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke. Circulating cholesterol can also be transported by…
Controlling Fat Distribution
Extreme accumulation of fat in muscle tissue is associated with cardiovascular disease and is a contributory factor in insulin resistance and type II diabetes. It is therefore important to understand the mechanisms by which fat is taken up from the…
Blocking Lipid Droplet Hydrolysis May Be Beneficial
Fatty acids can be stored as triacylglycerol in lipid droplets, typically within adipose tissue, and then later released by the action of triacylglycerol hydrolase (TGH, also known as carboxylesterase-3, Ces3). Under normal circumstances, the released fatty acids provide an energy…
MAGL Contributes to Aggressiveness in Cancer
Despite a growing understanding that the conversion of normal cells into cancerous cells is accompanied by metabolic changes, it remains unclear whether many of these changes play crucial roles in malignancy and disease progression. Increased lipid synthesis by fatty acid…
New Role for Multi-Tasking Lipid
Since the mid-1990s, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) has become one of the most widely studied lipid mediators. Many of the biological effects of S1P are mediated by signalling through cell surface receptors but researchers led by a team at Virginia Commonwealth University…
