Canonical Wnt pathway and the LDL receptor superfamily in neuronal cholesterol homeostasis and function.

We show for the first time that neurons can accumulate intracellular lipids and that lipid uptake is performed mainly by the LDLR while CD36, LRP1, and LRP5 do not play a major role. We also show that LRP5 triggers the canonical WNT pathway in neuronal cells to generate pro-survival signals. Finally we show, that Lrp5-/- mice have maintained expression of LRP5 only in the brain supporting the biological plausible concept of the need of brain LRP5 to elicit pro-survival processes and embryonic viability.