CHOLESTEROL METABOLITE SIGNALING

Cholesterol metabolite signaling in health & disease

We are an interdisciplinary lab in the Chemistry Department at UIC who studies the central roles of cholesterol and its metabolites in human health and disease.

Cholesterol's role in biology is unparalleled: its intricate structure confers it with unique versatility as a signaling molecule, while its hydrocarbon nature imparts to it a singular influence on membrane biophysics. The broad array of mechanisms that capitalize on cholesterol’s structure underlie its role in processes from neuron firing to the tumor immune response.  Yet both the diversity of these mechanisms and the subtlety of their molecular foundations have led to a view that cholesterol metabolite signaling is undruggable. Fortunately this view is inaccurate.  We are fashioning precise chemical tools at the interface of chemistry and biology to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of cholesterol control and dissect how they are co-opted in disease. Armed with the capacity to create and deploy these molecular tools, we proceed with audacity to tackle "untreatable" diseases of cholesterol metabolism, including Alzheimer’s, autoimmunity, and cancer.

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