The sterol-sensing domain: multiple families, a unique role?
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.
Kuwabara
Patricia E
PE
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK. pek@sanger.ac.uk
Labouesse
Michel
M
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
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