US EPA

7415312 

Journal Article 

The Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein (StAR) 

Clark, BJ; Stocco, DM; , 

2014 

Springer New York 

New York, NY 

Cholesterol Transporters of the START Domain Protein Family in Health and Disease 

15-47 

10.1007/978-1-4939-1112-7_2 

http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-4939-1112-7_2
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StAR, the Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory protein, was named for its critical role in the acute regulation of steroid hormone biosynthesis in the adrenal and gonads following tropic hormone stimulation. StAR synthesis is required for the first and rate-limiting step in steroid hormone biosynthesis, cholesterol transport into mitochondria. It was a long journey to finding the acute regulator of steroidogenesis, and this chapter provides a historical and personal account of this journey from the perspective of Dr. Douglas M. Stocco. Over the past two decades, we have gained significant insight into the mechanisms that regulate StAR expression, and into StAR structure and function. This chapter also provides a summary of the literature that has led to our current understanding of the cyclic adenosine-3′,5′-monophosphate (cAMP)-protein kinase A-dependent mechanisms that control StAR expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels in steroidogenic tissues.