Cholesterol is an essential component of animal cell membranes because it influences and controls cell membrane fluidity. Cholesterol is also responsible for the most frequent lethal pathologies in developed countries because of its intimate association with atherosclerotic plaques, the rupture of which may cause heart attacks or strokes. The question is under which conditions cholesterol activity manifests itself, whether in physiology or in pathology. The answer is complex, and there is probably not one certain answer. This review article has its foundations in abundant published knowledge and evidence, but it cannot possibly be comprehensive, because the extent of cholesterol's involvement in chemistry, biology, biophysics, and medicine is so vast that we cannot embrace it all. We review cholesterol as a molecule and in its various crystalline polymorphs. We then examine cholesterol assembly pathways and, finally, cholesterol in biology and in pathology. We propose that cholesterol activity depends on its assembly states in cholesterol crystals or with other lipids in the form of more-or-less organized crystalline domains. In other words, we analyze cholesterol material properties because the assembly state of the cholesterol molecules profoundly affects the properties of the environment in which they reside.

中文翻译：

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结晶胆固醇：材料及其装配线

胆固醇是动物细胞膜的重要组成部分，因为它影响和控制细胞膜的流动性。胆固醇也是发达国家最常见的致命病症的原因，因为它与动脉粥样硬化斑块密切相关，动脉粥样硬化斑块的破裂可能导致心脏病发作或中风。问题是胆固醇活性在什么条件下表现出来，无论是生理学还是病理学。答案很复杂，而且可能没有一个确定的答案。这篇综述文章以大量已发表的知识和证据为基础，但它不可能是全面的，因为胆固醇在化学、生物学、生物物理学和医学中的涉及范围如此广泛，以至于我们无法涵盖全部。我们将胆固醇作为一种分子及其各种结晶多晶型物进行回顾。然后我们检查胆固醇组装途径，最后检查生物学和病理学中的胆固醇。我们认为胆固醇活性取决于其在胆固醇晶体中或与其他脂质以或多或少有组织的结晶域的形式的组装状态。换句话说，我们分析胆固醇材料的特性，因为胆固醇分子的组装状态深刻地影响它们所处环境的特性。