Oxysterol research: a brief review - PubMed
- ️Tue Jan 01 2019
Review
. 2019 Apr 30;47(2):517-526.
doi: 10.1042/BST20180135. Epub 2019 Apr 1.
Affiliations
- PMID: 30936243
- PMCID: PMC6490702
- DOI: 10.1042/BST20180135
Review
Oxysterol research: a brief review
William J Griffiths et al. Biochem Soc Trans. 2019.
Abstract
In the present study, we discuss the recent developments in oxysterol research. Exciting results have been reported relating to the involvement of oxysterols in the fields of neurodegenerative disease, especially in Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease; in signalling and development, in particular, in relation to Hedgehog signalling; and in cancer, with a special focus on (25R)26-hydroxycholesterol. Methods for the measurement of oxysterols, essential for understanding their mechanism of action in vivo, and valuable for diagnosing rare diseases of cholesterol biosynthesis and metabolism are briefly considered.
Keywords: Hedgehog; Huntington's disease; cholesterol; cytochrome p450; metastasis; sterols.
© 2019 The Author(s).
Conflict of interest statement
The chromatogram presented in Figure 2 was generated exploiting Girard P derivatisation. The derivatisation method is patented by Swansea University (US9851368B2) and licensed by Swansea Innovations to Avanti Polar Lipids and to Cayman Chemical Company.
Figures

Once 7α-hydroxylated, oxysterols become substrates for the enzyme HSD3B7 (3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 7) and can be converted from their 3β-hydroxy-5-ene to 3-oxo-4-ene forms. Shown in the red boxes are 7β,26-diHC and 26H,7O-C, assumed to be interconverted by the HSD11B enzymes. Enzymes, supported by experimental evidence are shown in blue, where activity is assumed enzymes are in green. Diseases resulting from enzymes deficiency are in red and indicated by an X preceding the disease abbreviation.

The different oxysterols are labelled with the location of the extra hydroxy group. No authentic standard was available for the oxysterol indicated to be 12α-hydroxycholesterol (12α-HC). As a consequence of derivatisation, each oxysterol may give twin peaks. The top panel shows mono-hydroxycholesterols in the brain from the Cyp27a1 knock-out mouse, the bottom panel is from a wild-type mouse. The Cyp27a1 knock-out mouse biochemically mimics the human disorder CTX, showing an absence of 26-HC and elevation in 7α-HC [30]. In both chromatograms, the y-axis is normalised to the most intense peak at 100% relative abundance (RA). The measured concentration of 24S-HC corresponding to this peak is given in the right-hand corner of each chromatogram. A hydrolysis step was not performed. To generate the reconstructed-ion chromatogram, mass spectrometry data were recorded at high resolution with an Orbitrap analyser. Reproduced from ref. [30].
Similar articles
-
Griffiths WJ, Crick PJ, Meljon A, Theofilopoulos S, Abdel-Khalik J, Yutuc E, Parker JE, Kelly DE, Kelly SL, Arenas E, Wang Y. Griffiths WJ, et al. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids. 2019 Feb;1864(2):191-211. doi: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2018.11.006. Epub 2018 Nov 22. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids. 2019. PMID: 30471425 Free PMC article.
-
Contribution of cholesterol and oxysterols to the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease.
Doria M, Maugest L, Moreau T, Lizard G, Vejux A. Doria M, et al. Free Radic Biol Med. 2016 Dec;101:393-400. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2016.10.008. Epub 2016 Nov 9. Free Radic Biol Med. 2016. PMID: 27836779 Review.
-
New methods for analysis of oxysterols and related compounds by LC-MS.
Griffiths WJ, Abdel-Khalik J, Crick PJ, Yutuc E, Wang Y. Griffiths WJ, et al. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2016 Sep;162:4-26. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2015.11.017. Epub 2015 Nov 27. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2016. PMID: 26639636 Review.
-
Kakiyama G, Marques D, Takei H, Nittono H, Erickson S, Fuchs M, Rodriguez-Agudo D, Gil G, Hylemon PB, Zhou H, Bajaj JS, Pandak WM. Kakiyama G, et al. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2019 May;189:36-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jsbmb.2019.01.011. Epub 2019 Jan 30. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2019. PMID: 30710743
-
Oxysterols: modulators of cholesterol metabolism and other processes.
Schroepfer GJ Jr. Schroepfer GJ Jr. Physiol Rev. 2000 Jan;80(1):361-554. doi: 10.1152/physrev.2000.80.1.361. Physiol Rev. 2000. PMID: 10617772 Review.
Cited by
-
Maja M, Tyteca D. Maja M, et al. Front Physiol. 2022 Nov 9;13:999883. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.999883. eCollection 2022. Front Physiol. 2022. PMID: 36439249 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Pikuleva IA. Pikuleva IA. Explor Neuroprotective Ther. 2021 Dec 30;1(3):159-172. doi: 10.37349/ent.2021.00013. Explor Neuroprotective Ther. 2021. PMID: 35156102 Free PMC article.
-
Wang Y, Li X, Ren S. Wang Y, et al. Metabolites. 2020 Dec 25;11(1):9. doi: 10.3390/metabo11010009. Metabolites. 2020. PMID: 33375700 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Decker NS, Johnson T, Le Cornet C, Behrens S, Obi N, Kaaks R, Chang-Claude J, Fortner RT. Decker NS, et al. Sci Rep. 2024 Feb 29;14(1):4977. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-55316-x. Sci Rep. 2024. PMID: 38424253 Free PMC article.
-
Decker NS, Johnson T, Behrens S, Obi N, Kaaks R, Chang-Claude J, Fortner RT. Decker NS, et al. Br J Cancer. 2023 Aug;129(3):492-502. doi: 10.1038/s41416-023-02315-w. Epub 2023 Jun 24. Br J Cancer. 2023. PMID: 37355720 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Bauman D.R., Bitmansour A.D., McDonald J.G., Thompson B.M., Liang G. and Russell D.W. (2009) 25-Hydroxycholesterol secreted by macrophages in response to Toll-like receptor activation suppresses immunoglobulin A production. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 16764–16769 10.1073/pnas.0909142106 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
-
- Chaudhuri A.C., Harada Y., Shimizu K., Gut M. and Dorfman R.I. (1962) Biosynthesis of pregnenolone from 22-hydroxycholesterol. J. Biol. Chem. 237, 703–704 PMID: - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources