Why do worms need cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a structural component of animal membranes that influences fluidity, permeability and formation of lipid microdomains. It is also a precursor to signalling molecules, including mammalian steroid hormones and insect ecdysones. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans requires too little cholesterol for it to have a major role in membrane structure. Instead, its most probable signalling functions are to control molting and induce a specialized non-feeding larval stage, although no cholesterol-derived signalling molecule has yet been identified for these or any other functions.[1]References
- Why do worms need cholesterol? Kurzchalia, T.V., Ward, S. Nat. Cell Biol. (2003) [Pubmed]
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