Category:Low density lipoprotein receptor gene family

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The Low density lipoprotein receptor gene family constitutes a class of structurally closely related cell surface receptors that fulfill diverse biological functions in different organs, tissues, and cell types. The role that is most commonly associated with this evolutionarily ancient gene family is the endocytosis and removal of low-density lipoprotein(LDL), the main carrier of cholesterol in the circulation of humans, by the liver. Indeed, the regulation of cholesterol homeostasis through this mechanism remains the sole known function of the family’s namesake, the LDL receptor. Yet, over the last few years, considerable evidence has accumulated at an increasingly rapid pace that shows that the members of the LDL receptor gene family also have fundamental functions in transmitting or modulating signals between specialized cells in many, if not all, multicellular organisms.