Molecular mechanism of HDL diversification and its effect on the character and function

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K15771
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Laboratory medicine
• Research Institution: Tokyo Medical and Dental University
• Principal Investigator: Ohkawa Ryunosuke 東京医科歯科大学, 大学院医歯学総合研究科, 助教 (50420203)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: HDL / 多様化 / コレステロール / 粥状動脈硬化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) has various anti-atherosclerotic functions and testing its cholesterol level is widely used for laboratory medicine. However, HDL is not single particle. There are various types of HDL and their characters should be investigated in detail to understand the mechanism of the progression of atherosclerosis. We revealed that HDL diversification is involved in interaction between HDL and other lipoproteins, red blood cells or hepatic cells where some enzymes and lipids are exchanged. We also demonstrated that serum amyloid A does not affect HDL measurement by a homogeneous assay. Moreover, we found one of anti-atherosclerotic function of minor HDL.

Free Research Field

臨床検査医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年，単なるHDLの量的評価だけでなく，質的評価が注目されている．HDLの質を理解するためには，多様なHDLの一つ一つの形成機序や機能を明らかにする必要があるが，まだ十分に明らかになっていない．今回の研究成果により，HDLの多様化の機序や機能の一端を明らかにすることができた．これにより，これまでのHDLの定量では不十分であった粥状動脈硬化との関連を説明する手助けとなり，また，通常のHDLとは機能の異なるマイナーHDLの検出など新たなバイオマーカー開発の手がかりになると考えられる．