Effects of Oxidation on Structural Stability and Remodeling of Human Very Low Density Lipoprotein, according to BUSM’s Gursky

Atherosclerosis is the number one killer in the Western world. In order to find better treatments for this disease, researchers have attempted to explain the molecular details of how fats and cholesterol are transported in the body and what important factors affect this transport. One such factor is oxidation, which until recently was believed to promote atherosclerosis.

According to Olga Gursky, PhD, an associate professor of physiology and biophysics at BUSM, this belief was challenged when no beneficial properties of antioxidants were found in clinical trials. According to the researchers, this, together with the pro-oxidant character of many healthy activities, such as exercise or consumption of red wine, led to an emerging consensus that oxidation is not necessarily bad for cardiovascular health.

In Gursky’s research, she proposed a biophysical mechanism underlying the effects of oxidation on good and bad cholesterol. She and her colleagues used a simple experimental model in which good and bad cholesterol are changed upon exposure to harsh conditions. “Our results explain how moderate oxidation helps convert precursors of bad cholesterol into good cholesterol, and thereby helps protect from atherosclerosis,” she said. These findings appear in the current issue of Biochemistry.