did someone say diet research?

September 9, 2003

(I guess now they can use their leftover Lipitor on mice and rats...)

A Closer Look at Lipids

FRIDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDayNews) -- A five-year, $35 million grant to

study lipids and their role in heart disease, arthritis and other

major illnesses has been awarded by the U.S. National Institutes of

Health.

Genes and proteins are often the focus of biomedical research. But

lipid fats and oils often have a more direct effect on human health.

The grant was given to the Lipid Metabolites and Pathways Strategy

(MAPS) Consortium, a collaborative effort led by the University of

California, San Diego (UCSD).

Researchers taking part in the project will try to identify and

measure the amounts of all lipids within a cell. This information

will provide information about how lipids interact with each other

and with the inner structures of human cells at varying times and

locations.

It's also expected that the project will yield new tools, methods and

technologies for sorting out and measuring the changing levels of the

1,000 or more different lipids in a given cell.

Lipids, which are essential to life, come in a wide variety and have

many different functions within a cell. Among those functions, lipids

can be stored as an energy reserve, make up cell membranes, and are

involved in communication within and between cells.

Lipid imbalances cause or play a role in numerous diseases, such as

high cholesterol, rheumatoid arthritis, sepsis, asthma, inflammatory

bowel disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

" Lipids are the most important biomolecules because they are the

ultimate controllers and regulators of our bodily processes, "

Dennis, principal investigator and a chemistry and biochemistry

professor at UCSD, says in a news release.

More information

Here's where you can learn more about the Lipid MAPS Consortium.

(SOURCE: U.S. National Institutes of Health, news release, August

2003)

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