STARD3: A Prospective Target for Cancer Therapy
1
Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, PhD School in Science and Technology of Bio and Nanomaterials, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 30172 Venice, Italy
2
Pathology Unit, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (C.R.O.) IRCCS, 33081 Aviano, Italy
3
Department of Experimental Oncology, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, 95029 Catania, Italy
4
Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 30172 Venice, Italy
5
Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, 34149 Trieste, Italy
6
Department of Pharmacy, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors equally contributed to this work.
Academic Editor: Ellen Lori Weisberg
Cancers 2021, 13(18), 4693; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13184693
Received: 26 August 2021
/
Accepted: 10 September 2021
/
Published: 18 September 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Prognosis and Theranostics of Cancer)
Simple Summary
Alterations in cholesterol level play an important role in cancer development. Lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) are involved in cholesterol distribution between organelles. Among LTPs, some members of steroidogenic acute regulatory-related lipid transfer (START) protein family regulate the cholesterol transportation between organelles and have been revealed as critical for cancer development. This review highlights the recent discoveries of the StAR-related lipid transfer protein domain 3 (STARD3) member of START proteins in cancer development and progression. Blocking cholesterol transportation through the inhibition of STARD3 activity could be an important strategy to treat cancer.
Cancer is one of the major causes of death in developed countries and current therapies are based on surgery, chemotherapeutic agents, and radiation. To overcome side effects induced by chemo- and radiotherapy, in recent decades, targeted therapies have been proposed in second and even first lines. Targeted drugs act on the essential pathways involved in tumor induction, progression, and metastasis, basically all the hallmark of cancers. Among emerging pathways, the cholesterol metabolic pathway is a strong candidate for this purpose. Cancer cells have an accelerated metabolic rate and require a continuous supply of cholesterol for cell division and membrane renewal. Steroidogenic acute regulatory related lipid transfer (START) proteins are a family of proteins involved in the transfer of lipids and some of them are important in non-vesicular cholesterol transportation within the cell. The alteration of their expression levels is implicated in several diseases, including cancers. In this review, we report the latest discoveries on StAR-related lipid transfer protein domain 3 (STARD3), a member of the START family, which has a potential role in cancer, focusing on the structural and biochemical characteristics and mechanisms that regulate its activity. The role of the STARD3 protein as a molecular target for the development of cancer therapies is also discussed. As STARD3 is a key protein in the cholesterol movement in cancer cells, it is of interest to identify inhibitors able to block its activity.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
STARD3; targeted drugs; cholesterol; steroidogenic acute regulatory transfer proteins; inhibitors; cancer
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
- Supplementary File 1:
ZIP-Document (ZIP, 143 KiB)
MDPI and ACS Style
Asif, K.; Memeo, L.; Palazzolo, S.; Frión-Herrera, Y.; Parisi, S.; Caligiuri, I.; Canzonieri, V.; Granchi, C.; Tuccinardi, T.; Rizzolio, F. STARD3: A Prospective Target for Cancer Therapy. Cancers 2021, 13, 4693. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13184693
AMA Style
Asif K, Memeo L, Palazzolo S, Frión-Herrera Y, Parisi S, Caligiuri I, Canzonieri V, Granchi C, Tuccinardi T, Rizzolio F. STARD3: A Prospective Target for Cancer Therapy. Cancers. 2021; 13(18):4693. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13184693
Chicago/Turabian StyleAsif, Kanwal, Lorenzo Memeo, Stefano Palazzolo, Yahima Frión-Herrera, Salvatore Parisi, Isabella Caligiuri, Vincenzo Canzonieri, Carlotta Granchi, Tiziano Tuccinardi, and Flavio Rizzolio. 2021. "STARD3: A Prospective Target for Cancer Therapy" Cancers 13, no. 18: 4693. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13184693
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
