title: The sterol-sensing domain: multiple families, a unique role?
abstract: The "sterol-sensing domain" (SSD) is conserved across phyla and is present in several membrane proteins, such as Patched (a Hedgehog receptor) and NPC-1 (the protein defective in Niemann-Pick type C1 disease). The role of the SSD is perhaps best understood from the standpoint of its involvement in cholesterol homeostasis. This article discusses how the SSD appears to function as a regulatory domain involved in linking vesicle trafficking and protein localization with such varied processes as cholesterol homeostasis, cell signalling and cytokinesis.
authors.affiliation: The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK. pek@sanger.ac.uk
authors.forename: Patricia E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Kuwabara
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Labouesse
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D006801:Humans; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005810:Multigene Family; D009542:Niemann-Pick Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000502:physiology; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D011987:Receptors, Steroid / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D011987:Receptors, Steroid; C102196:SREBP cleavage-activating protein; C070844:ptc protein, Drosophila; C077245:hh protein, Drosophila; D002784:Cholesterol