American Journal of Life Sciences

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STARD3/MLN64 is Striving at Membrane Contact Sites: Intracellular Cholesterol Trafficking for Steroidogenesis in Human Placental Cells

Received: 29 March 2015    Accepted: 22 April 2015    Published: 6 May 2015
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Abstract

Steroid hormone synthesis begins with the conversion of cholesterol into pregnenolone by the enzyme cytochrome P450scc in mitochondria. The cholesterol used to synthesize pregnenolone is derived mainly from endocytosed LDL cholesterol. How this LDL cholesterol is transported to mitochondria in the human placenta is not well understood. Recent work has focused on how STARD3/MLN64 controls cholesterol trafficking. The STARD3 protein has a START domain that associates with cholesterol. Why STARD3 is distributed mainly to late endosomes but not to mitochondria is an obstacle to understanding the early steps in steroidogenesis. STARD3 can bind the ER protein VAP and contribute to ER-late endosome MCS formation. In this review, recent progress on STARD3 functions suggests possible models to explain how cholesterol could transit to mitochondria via MCS.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19
Published in American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 3-2, May 2015)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Biology and Medicine of Peptide and Steroid Hormones

Page(s) 48-52
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

STARD3, steroidogenesis, endosome, mitochondria, cholesterol, membrane contact site

References
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  • APA Style

    Atsuki Nara, Tohru Komiya. (2015). STARD3/MLN64 is Striving at Membrane Contact Sites: Intracellular Cholesterol Trafficking for Steroidogenesis in Human Placental Cells. American Journal of Life Sciences, 3(3-2), 48-52. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19

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    ACS Style

    Atsuki Nara; Tohru Komiya. STARD3/MLN64 is Striving at Membrane Contact Sites: Intracellular Cholesterol Trafficking for Steroidogenesis in Human Placental Cells. Am. J. Life Sci. 2015, 3(3-2), 48-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19

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    AMA Style

    Atsuki Nara, Tohru Komiya. STARD3/MLN64 is Striving at Membrane Contact Sites: Intracellular Cholesterol Trafficking for Steroidogenesis in Human Placental Cells. Am J Life Sci. 2015;3(3-2):48-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19,
      author = {Atsuki Nara and Tohru Komiya},
      title = {STARD3/MLN64 is Striving at Membrane Contact Sites: Intracellular Cholesterol Trafficking for Steroidogenesis in Human Placental Cells},
      journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {3-2},
      pages = {48-52},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.s.2015030302.19},
      abstract = {Steroid hormone synthesis begins with the conversion of cholesterol into pregnenolone by the enzyme cytochrome P450scc in mitochondria. The cholesterol used to synthesize pregnenolone is derived mainly from endocytosed LDL cholesterol. How this LDL cholesterol is transported to mitochondria in the human placenta is not well understood. Recent work has focused on how STARD3/MLN64 controls cholesterol trafficking. The STARD3 protein has a START domain that associates with cholesterol. Why STARD3 is distributed mainly to late endosomes but not to mitochondria is an obstacle to understanding the early steps in steroidogenesis. STARD3 can bind the ER protein VAP and contribute to ER-late endosome MCS formation. In this review, recent progress on STARD3 functions suggests possible models to explain how cholesterol could transit to mitochondria via MCS.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    T1  - STARD3/MLN64 is Striving at Membrane Contact Sites: Intracellular Cholesterol Trafficking for Steroidogenesis in Human Placental Cells
    AU  - Atsuki Nara
    AU  - Tohru Komiya
    Y1  - 2015/05/06
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19
    T2  - American Journal of Life Sciences
    JF  - American Journal of Life Sciences
    JO  - American Journal of Life Sciences
    SP  - 48
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.s.2015030302.19
    AB  - Steroid hormone synthesis begins with the conversion of cholesterol into pregnenolone by the enzyme cytochrome P450scc in mitochondria. The cholesterol used to synthesize pregnenolone is derived mainly from endocytosed LDL cholesterol. How this LDL cholesterol is transported to mitochondria in the human placenta is not well understood. Recent work has focused on how STARD3/MLN64 controls cholesterol trafficking. The STARD3 protein has a START domain that associates with cholesterol. Why STARD3 is distributed mainly to late endosomes but not to mitochondria is an obstacle to understanding the early steps in steroidogenesis. STARD3 can bind the ER protein VAP and contribute to ER-late endosome MCS formation. In this review, recent progress on STARD3 functions suggests possible models to explain how cholesterol could transit to mitochondria via MCS.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 3-2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Nagahama Institute of Bioscience and Technology, Shiga, Japan

  • Nagahama Institute of Bioscience and Technology, Shiga, Japan

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