Cells (Sep 2021)

Impact of Oxysterols on Cell Death, Proliferation, and Differentiation Induction: Current Status

  • Fábio Alessandro de Freitas,
  • Débora Levy,
  • Amira Zarrouk,
  • Gérard Lizard,
  • Sérgio Paulo Bydlowski

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10092301
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 9
p. 2301

Abstract

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Oxysterols are oxidized derivatives of cholesterol produced by enzymatic activity or non-enzymatic pathways (auto-oxidation). The oxidation processes lead to the synthesis of about 60 different oxysterols. Several oxysterols have physiological, pathophysiological, and pharmacological activities. The effects of oxysterols on cell death processes, especially apoptosis, autophagy, necrosis, and oxiapoptophagy, as well as their action on cell proliferation, are reviewed here. These effects, also observed in several cancer cell lines, could potentially be useful in cancer treatment. The effects of oxysterols on cell differentiation are also described. Among them, the properties of stimulating the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells while inhibiting adipogenic differentiation may be useful in regenerative medicine.

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