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Cholesterol regulation of rab-mediated sphingolipid endocytosis

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Abstract

Despite a tight regulation of its intracellular content, cholesterol is found accumulated in pathological conditions such as sphingolipidosis as well as after cell treatment with drugs like hydrophobic amines. Furthermore, cellular cholesterol increases when cultured cells approach confluence. Under these conditions, the endocytic pathways of plasma membrane sphingolipids are differently affected. In this short review, we will summarize recent results from our laboratory as well as those of other groups, indicating that the intracellular accumulation of cholesterol inhibits the dissociation of rab GTPases from the target membranes, causing the alteration of rab-mediated membrane traffic.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Françoise Hullin-Matsuda for critically reading the manuscript. The authors’ work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan and Bioarchitect Project of RIKEN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. VCAD System Research Program, Bio-research Infrastructure Construction Team, RIKEN, 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan

    Miwa Takahashi

  2. Lipid Biology Laboratory, RIKEN, 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan

    Toshihide Kobayashi

  3. Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale UMR870, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique U1235, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, University Lyon 1 and Hospices Civils de Lyon, 69621, Villeurbanne, France

    Toshihide Kobayashi

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Takahashi, M., Kobayashi, T. Cholesterol regulation of rab-mediated sphingolipid endocytosis. Glycoconj J 26, 705–710 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10719-008-9191-z

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