New research on the way the body processes cholesterol has earned a scientist at the University of Rochester Medical Center one of the highest honors in the field.
Ned Ballatori, Ph.D., professor of Environmental Medicine, has been awarded the Adolf Windaus Prize for his discovery of key molecules involved in the way the body handles cholesterol and other lipids. Ballatori discovered a protein complex called OST (organic solute transporter) that plays a key role in how our body processes cholesterol and offers researchers a new target in their quest to help people lower their cholesterol and stave off obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
Ballatori did the initial research in a fish known as the "little skate," a close cousin to the stingray, that cruises the cold Atlantic waters off the East Coast. The fish has roamed Earth's waters for 450 million years. While it might be difficult to see how a little skate resembles humans, there are enough similarities biologically that scientists like Ballatori can spend years exploring the genetics and biological workings of the fish, all with an eye toward improving human health.
And that's precisely what Ballatori has been able to do. In little skates, he was able to explore a research area known as membrane transport much more thoroughly than he could have in humans. And in the little skate, Ballatori discovered two proteins that had been previously unknown that control how the fish handles lipids like cholesterol. The two proteins work in tandem, and Ballatori was able to track down the genes that encode for these two proteins simultaneously by studying the fish.
Ballatori then went on a sort of fishing expedition and found similar versions of the proteins in people. He found that the proteins are central players in the handling of cholesterol and other lipids, thus opening the door to a potential whole new avenue of treatment for millions of people with high cholesterol.