More Clues About Good Cholesterol

Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, has nailed down the function of a key protein involved in cells' uptake of the so-called "good" cholesterol. "This protein could be an attractive target for therapeutic intervention to manipulate levels of 'good' cholesterol in the blood," says research leader Monty Krieger, biology professor. Past work by the team identified indirect evidence for the protein's role, but this is the first direct evidence--"a smoking gun that this is a physiologically important receptor for HDL cholesterol," Krieger adds.