title: Touché! STARD3 and STARD3NL tether the ER to endosomes.
abstract: Membrane contact sites (MCSs) are subcellular regions where the membranes of distinct organelles come into close apposition. These specialized areas of the cell, which are involved in inter-organelle metabolite exchange, are scaffolded by specific complexes. STARD3 [StAR (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein)-related lipid transfer domain-3] and its close paralogue STARD3NL (STARD3 N-terminal like) are involved in the formation of contacts between late-endosomes and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The lipid transfer protein (LTP) STARD3 and STARD3NL, which are both anchored on the limiting membrane of late endosomes (LEs), interact with ER-anchored VAP [VAMP (vesicle-associated membrane protein)-associated protein] (VAP-A and VAP-B) proteins. This direct interaction allows ER-endosome contact formation. STARD3 or STARD3NL-mediated ER-endosome contacts, which affect endosome dynamics, are believed to be involved in cholesterol transport.
authors.affiliation: Functional Genomics and Cancer Department, Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 964, 67404 Illkirch, France Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, 67404 Illkirch, France Université de Strasbourg, 67404 Illkirch, France.
authors.forename: Léa P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.affiliation: Functional Genomics and Cancer Department, Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 964, 67404 Illkirch, France Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, 67404 Illkirch, France Université de Strasbourg, 67404 Illkirch, France.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tomasetto
authors.affiliation: Functional Genomics and Cancer Department, Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), U 964, 67404 Illkirch, France Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7104, 67404 Illkirch, France Université de Strasbourg, 67404 Illkirch, France Fabien.Alpy@igbmc.fr.
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alpy
mesh_terms: D001665:Binding Sites; D001692:Biological Transport; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000378:metabolism*; D011992:Endosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C105684:STARD3 protein, human; C471300:STARD3NL protein, human; D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: cholesterol; endoplasmic reticulum; endosome; lipid transfer protein; membrane contact site