Todd D. Porter, Ph.D.
Room 446 College of Pharmacy Academic Appointments: • Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy Education: • B.S., Biochemistry, University of Illinois Awards: • NIH Predoctoral Fellow Specific Interest in Nutrition: Modulation of cholesterol synthesis by natural products. Research: Cholesterol biosynthesis is an essential pathway with important health ramifications. Various dietary and nutritional products are able to lower blood cholesterol levels, often by reducing cholesterol synthesis. The Porter laboratory is exploring the mechanisms by which these commonly available substances inhibit cholesterol synthesis, using cultured hepatoma cells and recombinant DNA techniques. Recent studies have focused on garlic and tea, and ongoing studies are examining the mechanism by which policosanol, a mixture of very long-chain alcohols, decreases HMG-CoA reductase activity. Other interests include the modulation of cholesterol synthesis by accessory proteins (supernatant protein factor) and by phosphorylation pathways, and the identification and characterization of additional enzymes associated with cholesterol synthesis.
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