Cholesterol metabolism in the regulation of inflammatory responses

Rebekka Bauer; Bernhard Brüne; Tobias Schmid

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1121819

Cholesterol metabolism in the regulation of inflammatory responses

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Jan 20:14:1121819. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1121819. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Rebekka Bauer¹, Bernhard Brüne^{1

2

3

4}, Tobias Schmid^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biochemistry I, Faculty of Medicine, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
² German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) Partner Site Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
³ Frankfurt Cancer Institute, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
⁴ Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, Frankfurt, Germany.

Abstract

The importance of biologically active lipid mediators, such as prostanoids, leukotrienes, and specialized pro-resolving mediators, in the regulation of inflammation is well established. While the relevance of cholesterol in the context of atherosclerosis is also widely accepted, the role of cholesterol and its biosynthetic precursors on inflammatory processes is less comprehensively described. In the present mini-review, we summarize the current understanding of the inflammation-regulatory properties of cholesterol and relevant biosynthetic intermediates taking into account the implications of different subcellular distributions. Finally, we discuss the inflammation-regulatory effect of cholesterol homeostasis in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cholesterol; immunometabolism; inflammation.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the grants of the DFG (GRK 2336 TP6, SCHM2663/7, SFB1039 B04, BR999/25-1) and the Goethe Corona Fonds.