Cholesterol on the Scene

Abstract

Cholesterol was discovered in 1815 by the French chemist Michel E. Chevreul who found it in human gall stones . Its precise molecular structure , shown in Fig. 2.9a remained however unknown until 1932. In the following decades the biosynthetic pathway to cholesterol was worked out, and during the 1970 s and 1980s the relationship between the molecular evolution of sterols and the evolution of species was unravelled. The actual regulation of the cholesterol biosynthesis in humans by low density lipoprotein receptors became clarified in the last quarter of the 20th century. All this important work led to three Nobel Prizes , the 1927 Chemistry Prize to Heinrich O. Wieland for his work on cholesterol structure, the 1964 Physiology and Medicine Prize to Konrad Bloch for his work on cholesterol synthesis, and the 1985 Physiology and Medicine Prize to Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein for their work on regulation of cholesterol biosynthesis. In total fourteen Nobel Prizes have been awarded to sterols or topics related to sterols. Research on cholesterol has undoubtedly been a key issue in the 20th century.