HMG-CoA reductase is the rate-controlling enzyme of the mevalonate pathway, the metabolic pathway that produces cholesterol and other isoprenoids. HMGCR catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonic acid, a necessary step in the biosynthesis of cholesterol. Normally in mammalian cells this enzyme is competitively suppressed so that its effect is controlled. This enzyme is the target of the widely available cholesterol-lowering drugs known collectively as the statins, which help treat dyslipidemia.
Smith–Lemli–Opitz syndrome is an inborn error of cholesterol synthesis. It is an autosomal recessive, multiple malformation syndrome caused by a mutation in the enzyme 7-Dehydrocholesterol reductase encoded by the DHCR7 gene. It causes a broad spectrum of effects, ranging from mild intellectual disability and behavioural problems to lethal malformations.
QDPR is a human gene that produces the enzyme quinoid dihydropteridine reductase. This enzyme is part of the pathway that recycles a substance called tetrahydrobiopterin, also known as BH4. Tetrahydrobiopterin works with an enzyme called phenylalanine hydroxylase to process a substance called phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is an amino acid that is obtained through the diet; it is found in all proteins and in some artificial sweeteners. When tetrahydrobiopterin interacts with phenylalanine hydroxylase, tetrahydrobiopterin is altered and must be recycled to a usable form. The regeneration of this substance is critical for the proper processing of several other amino acids in the body. Tetrahydrobiopterin also helps produce certain chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters, which transmit signals between nerve cells.
Cytochrome P450 1B1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the CYP1B1 gene.
7-Dehydrocholesterol reductase, also known as DHCR7, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DHCR7 gene.
Cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme is commonly referred to as P450scc, where "scc" is an abbreviation for side-chain cleavage. P450scc is a mitochondrial enzyme that catalyzes conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone. This is the first reaction in the process of steroidogenesis in all mammalian tissues that specialize in the production of various steroid hormones.
Steroid 11β-hydroxylase, also known as steroid 11β-monooxygenase, is a steroid hydroxylase found in the zona glomerulosa and zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex. Named officially the cytochrome P450 11B1, mitochondrial, it is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CYP11B1 gene. The enzyme is involved in the biosynthesis of adrenal corticosteroids by catalyzing the addition of hydroxyl groups during oxidation reactions.
The human gene SRD5A2 encodes the 3-oxo-5α-steroid 4-dehydrogenase 2 enzyme, also known as 5α-reductase type 2 (5αR2), one of three isozymes of 5α-reductase.
Sepiapterin reductase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SPR gene.
Wolframin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the WFS1 gene.
Bifunctional UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the GNE gene.
Sialin, also known as H(+)/nitrate cotransporter and H(+)/sialic acid cotransporter, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the SLC17A5 gene.
Sterol-4-alpha-carboxylate 3-dehydrogenase, decarboxylating is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the NSDHL gene. This enzyme is localized in the endoplasmic reticulum and is involved in cholesterol biosynthesis.
24-Dehydrocholesterol reductase is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DHCR24 gene.
Lathosterol oxidase is a Δ7-sterol 5(6)-desaturase enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SC5D gene.
Methylmalonic aciduria and homocystinuria type C protein (MMACHC) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MMACHC gene.
Lathosterolosis is an inborn error of cholesterol biosynthesis caused by a deficiency of the enzyme 3-beta-hydroxysteroid-delta-5-desaturase. This leads to a flaw in the conversion of lathosterol to 7-dehydrocholesterol. Characteristics include facial dysmorphism, congenital malformations, failure to thrive, developmental delay, and liver illness. Brunetti-Pierri et al. originally described Lathosterolosis in 2002.
A steroidogenesis inhibitor, also known as a steroid biosynthesis inhibitor, is a type of drug which inhibits one or more of the enzymes that are involved in the process of steroidogenesis, the biosynthesis of endogenous steroids and steroid hormones. They may inhibit the production of cholesterol and other sterols, sex steroids such as androgens, estrogens, and progestogens, corticosteroids such as glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, and neurosteroids. They are used in the treatment of a variety of medical conditions that depend on endogenous steroids.
Triparanol was the first synthetic cholesterol-lowering drug. It was patented in 1959 and introduced in the United States in 1960. The developmental code name of triparanol, MER/29, became so well known that it became the registered trade name of the drug. It was withdrawn in 1962 due to severe adverse effects such as nausea and vomiting, vision loss due to irreversible cataracts, alopecia, skin disorders, and accelerated atherosclerosis. It is now considered to be obsolete.
