Thread by @UNSWScience

Scientists have shown for the first time how two proteins provide a tunnel for so-called "bad #cholesterol" to enter our body's cells.

Published in prestigious journal @CellPressNews, the findings have implications for a range of diseases. newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/health/%E…

“We were able to look at the NPC1 and NPC2 proteins and see exactly the role they play in transporting low-density lipoprotein (LDL) #cholesterol into the cell.”

- Prof Rob Yang of @UNSW Science's School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences (BABS).

“If you imagine NPC2 bringing the cholesterol to the gate at the edge of the lysosome membrane, the NPC1 protein provides a tunnel for this #cholesterol into the cell itself."

“We often had to theorise about how membrane proteins worked and how they functioned, but now we can actually see them, and seeing is believing."

@UNSW Science Prof Rob Yang says cryo-electron microscopes observed the proteins at near-atomic level - not possible 10 years ago.

"#Cholesterol is an important building block for our cells, but too much of it in the blood can clog our arteries leading to heart disease."

"Now that we understand how it gets into the cell, we can work towards developing drugs that target the NPC1 and NPC2 proteins to facilitate its influx into cells so as to lower the amount of it in the blood.”

Findings that show which proteins provide a tunnel for "bad #cholesterol" to enter our body cells, has implications for how we may develop future drugs for heart disease, a rare genetic disorder affecting children (#NiemannPick) and even the Ebola virus.