Browse
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by Ana Fernanda Castillo in
Google Scholar
PubMed
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by Cecilia Poderoso in
Google Scholar
PubMed
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by Paula Mariana Maloberti in
Google Scholar
PubMed
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by Fabiana Cornejo Maciel in
Google Scholar
PubMed
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by María Mercedes Mori Sequeiros Garcia in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Ulises Daniel Orlando in
Google Scholar
PubMed
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by Pablo Mele in
Google Scholar
PubMed
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by Yanina Benzo in
Google Scholar
PubMed
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by Melina Andrea Dattilo in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Jesica Prada in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Luciano Quevedo in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Matías Belluno in
Google Scholar
PubMed
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by Cristina Paz in
Google Scholar
PubMed
CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (INBIOMED), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Search for other papers by Ernesto Jorge Podesta in
Google Scholar
PubMed
For many years, research in the field of steroid synthesis has aimed to understand the regulation of the rate-limiting step of steroid synthesis, i.e. the transport of cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane, and identify the protein involved in the conversion of cholesterol into pregnenolone. The extraordinary work by B Clark, J Wells, S R King, and D M Stocco eventually identified this protein and named it steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR). The group’s finding was also one of the milestones in understanding the mechanism of nonvesicular lipid transport between organelles. A notable feature of StAR is its high degree of phosphorylation. In fact, StAR phosphorylation in the acute phase is required for full steroid biosynthesis. As a contribution to this subject, our work has led to the characterization of StAR as a substrate of kinases and phosphatases and as an integral part of a mitochondrion-associated multiprotein complex, essential for StAR function and cholesterol binding and mitochondrial transport to yield maximum steroid production. Results allow us to postulate the existence of a specific cellular microenvironment where StAR protein synthesis and activation, along with steroid synthesis and secretion, are performed in a compartmentalized manner, at the site of hormone receptor stimulation, and involving the compartmentalized formation of the steroid molecule-synthesizing complex.
