Looking for a new way to lower cholesterol

Regulation of hepatic Tribbles-1 activity by miR202; a novel anti-atherosclerotic strategy

Dr Endre Kiss Toth and his team at the University of Sheffield are looking for new ways to lower cholesterol levels in the blood to prevent arteries becoming blocked with fatty plaques, or atherosclerosis. Scientists have found that a protein called tribbles-1 in the liver can reduce blood cholesterol levels. This means that boosting levels of this protein in the liver may be a new way to combat high cholesterol and atherosclerosis. But tribbles-1 is a very unstable protein, which degrades easily, so we need to find ways to stabilise it. In this project, Dr Toth will study tribbles-1 in more detail. He aims to boost levels of tribbles-1 in the liver by targeting molecules called microRNAs. These microRNAs lower the amounts of tribbles-1 protein by attaching to tribbles-1 RNA (the small molecule that gives rise to tribbles-1 protein) and causing its breakdown. He will find out if preventing tribbles-1 being degraded, by blocking microRNAs, can help keep its levels high in the liver. This research will reveal if blocking tribbles-1 breakdown using tiny RNAs could be a new cholesterol lowering strategy.