Chattopadhyay Amitabha, Sharma Ashwani
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, Ghaziabad, India.
Front Mol Biosci. 2023 Jan 12;10:1120373. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1120373. eCollection 2023.
The biosynthesis of cholesterol, an essential component of higher eukaryotic membranes, was worked out by Konrad Bloch (and Feodor Lynen) in the 1960s and they received the Nobel Prize around that time in recognition of their pioneering contributions. An elegant consequence of this was a hypothesis proposed by Konrad Bloch (the Bloch hypothesis) which suggests that each subsequent intermediate in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway is superior in supporting membrane function in higher eukaryotes relative to its precursor. In this review, we discuss an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder, known as Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS), associated with a defect in the Kandutsch-Russell pathway of cholesterol biosynthesis that results in accumulation of the immediate precursor of cholesterol in its biosynthetic pathway (7-dehydrocholesterol) and an altered cholesterol to total sterol ratio. Patients suffering from SLOS have several developmental, behavioral and cognitive abnormalities for which no drug is available yet. We characterize SLOS as a manifestation of the Bloch hypothesis and review its molecular etiology and current treatment. We further discuss defective Hedgehog signaling in SLOS and focus on the role of the serotonin receptor, a representative neurotransmitter receptor belonging to the GPCR family, in SLOS. Notably, ligand binding activity and cellular signaling of serotonin receptors are impaired in SLOS-like condition. Importantly, cellular localization and intracellular trafficking of the serotonin receptor (which constitute an important determinant of a GPCR cellular function) are compromised in SLOS. We highlight some of the recent developments and emerging concepts in SLOS pathobiology and suggest that novel therapies based on trafficking defects of target receptors could provide new insight into treatment of SLOS.
胆固醇是高等真核生物细胞膜的重要组成部分,其生物合成过程在20世纪60年代由康拉德·布洛赫(和费奥多尔·吕南)阐明,他们也因此在那时获得了诺贝尔奖,以表彰其开创性贡献。由此产生的一个精妙推论是康拉德·布洛赫提出的假说(布洛赫假说),该假说认为,在胆固醇生物合成途径中,每一个后续中间体在支持高等真核生物膜功能方面都优于其前体。在这篇综述中,我们讨论一种常染色体隐性代谢紊乱疾病,即史密斯-莱姆利-奥皮茨综合征(SLOS),它与胆固醇生物合成的坎杜奇-拉塞尔途径缺陷有关,导致胆固醇生物合成途径中胆固醇的直接前体(7-脱氢胆固醇)积累,以及胆固醇与总甾醇比例改变。患有SLOS的患者有多种发育、行为和认知异常,目前尚无针对这些异常的药物。我们将SLOS描述为布洛赫假说的一种表现形式,并综述其分子病因和当前治疗方法。我们还将进一步讨论SLOS中缺陷的刺猬信号通路,并重点关注血清素受体(属于GPCR家族的一种代表性神经递质受体)在SLOS中的作用。值得注意的是,在类似SLOS的情况下,血清素受体的配体结合活性和细胞信号传导会受损。重要的是,血清素受体的细胞定位和细胞内运输(这是GPCR细胞功能的重要决定因素)在SLOS中受到损害。我们强调了SLOS病理生物学的一些最新进展和新兴概念,并提出基于靶受体运输缺陷的新疗法可能为SLOS的治疗提供新的见解。