Group: Swansea Steroidomics, Swansea University Medical School, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK
Key members: Eylan Yutuc, Roberto Angelini, Yuqin Wang, William Griffiths
Student members: Alison Dickson, Lauren Griffiths, Daphne Davies, Kristen Hawkins
Contact: William Griffiths w.j.griffiths@swansea.ac.uk or Yuqin Wang y.wang@swansea.ac.uk
Research activities: Our interest is in the biosynthesis and metabolism of cholesterol and its relation to health. We use LC-MS to identify and quantify different cholesterol precursors and metabolites in body fluids, tissues and cells. Current projects are centered around the binding of oxysterols to nuclear receptors and G protein-coupled receptors and to the imaging of cholesterol and oxysterols in tissue. We collaborate extensively with ENOR members including the groups in Stockholm (Björkhem, Arenas), Novartis (Basel) Cardiff (Ghazal) and with Theofilopoulos also in Swansea. We work with clinicians in Manchester, London, Oxford, Cambridge, Zurich, Tubingen, Umeå, and Houston.
Key papers related to ENOR:
Imaging Oxysterols in Mouse Brain by On-Tissue Derivatisation – Robotic Micro-Liquid-Extraction Surface Analysis – Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry. Eylan Yutuc, Roberto Angelini, Mark Baumert, Natalia Mast, Irina Pikuleva, Jillian Newton, Malcolm R Clench, David Skibinski, Owain W Howell, Yuqin Wang, William J Griffiths. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/450973
Metabolism of Non-Enzymatically Derived Oxysterols: Clues from sterol metabolic disorders. Griffiths WJ, Yutuc E, Abdel-Khalik J, Crick PJ, Hearn T, Dickson A, Bigger BW, Hoi-Yee Wu T, Goenka A, Ghosh A, Jones SA, Covey DF, Ory DS, Wang Y. Free Radic Biol Med. 2019 Apr 19. pii: S0891-5849(19)30330-2. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2019.04.020. [Epub ahead of print].
Additional pathways of sterol metabolism: Evidence from analysis of Cyp27a1-/- mouse brain and plasma. Griffiths WJ, Crick PJ, Meljon A, Theofilopoulos S, Abdel-Khalik J, Yutuc E, Parker JE, Kelly DE, Kelly SL, Arenas E, Wang Y. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids. 2019 Feb;1864(2):191-211.
Reduced Plasma Levels of 25-Hydroxycholesterol and Increased Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of Bile Acid Precursors in Multiple Sclerosis Patients. Crick PJ, Griffiths WJ, Zhang J, Beibel M, Abdel-Khalik J, Kuhle J, Sailer AW, Wang Y. Mol Neurobiol. 2017 Dec;54(10):8009-8020.
