Cholesterol is a necessary constituent of human and animal cell membranes. No less than 13 Nobel awards have been rewarded to researchers who spent their lives studying cholesterol, and therefore cholesterol researchers Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein in their Nobel Prize Lecture described cholesterol as the "the most highly decorated small molecule in biology."
Cholesterol was first isolated in 1769, but productive research on its structure and function did not begin until the 20th century. Development of new research equipment has helped the researchers understand cholesterol structure, as well as its function.
Isolation of Cholesterol
Cholesterol was first discovered in bile and in gallstones by François Poulletier de la Salle in 1769. (Reference 2) The chemist Eugène Chevreul rediscovered it in 1815 and named it "cholesterine." (Reference 2) Researcher Boudet was the first to find cholesterol in blood in 1833. (Reference 2)
Discovery of the Structure
German chemists Heinrich O. Wieland and Adolf O.R. Windaus won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1928 for their work, which also included discoveries of the molecular composition and structure of cholesterol. Other scientists who contributed to the elucidation of the structure of cholesterol are Leopold Ruzicka, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939, Robert Robinson in 1947, and Otto P.H. Diels in 1950.
Connection with Atherosclerosis
German pathologist Felix Marchand was the first to introduce the term "atherosclerosis" in 1904, and he suggested that it was responsible for almost all obstructive processes in the arteries. In 1908, the clinician A.I. Ignatowski described a relationship between cholesterol-rich food and experimental atherosclerosis. In 1910, Adolf Windaus showed that lesions in arteries contained more than 20 times the amount of cholesterol of a healthy arterial wall.
In 1913, the Russian scientist Nikolai Anichkov performed an experiment in which he fed rabbits with egg yolks, which contain high amounts of cholesterol. Interestingly, the rabbits developed atherosclerosis with the typical deposits on their blood vessels.
Cholesterol-Fighting Compounds
In 1973, the Japanese scientist Akira Endo and his colleagues isolated a natural cholesterol-fighting compound from a fungus, which blocks a key enzyme in cholesterol synthesis. Drugs based on Endo's discovery, cholesterol-lowering statins, such as Lipitor, finally reached the market in 1987.
Cholesterol Synthesis
Two biochemists, Konrad Emil Bloch and Feodor Lynen worked together on deciphering the mechanism and regulation of the cholesterol metabolism, and won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1964.
American chemist Robert B. Woodward managed to synthesize cholesterol from simple compounds. Woodward received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1965 "for his outstanding achievement in the art of organic synthesis."
Cholesterol Metabolism
Biosynthesis of cholesterol is directly regulated by cholesterol levels in the body: A higher intake from food leads to a decrease in cholesterol production, while lower intake has the opposite effect. A large part of this mechanism was clarified by Drs. Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein in the 1970s. They have identified a complex set of interacting molecules that work together to regulate cholesterol metabolism. They received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1985 "for their discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism."
References
- "A Receptor-Mediated Pathway for Cholesterol Homeostasis"; M. S. Brown and J. L. Goldstein; Dec. 1985
- "Discovery of the Lipoproteins, Their Role in Fat Transport and Their Significance as Risk Factors"; R. E. Olson; Feb. 1998
- "Nikolai N. Anichkov and His Theory of Atherosclerosis"; I. E. Konstantinov, N. Mejevoi, N. M. Anichkov; 2006
- "Statins, Cholesterol and the Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease"; M. W. Freeman; 2006
- "30 Years of Cholesterol Metabolism: the Work of Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein"; N. Kresge, R. D. Simoni, R. L. Hill
