Pathway candidateNCBI-verifiedprotein-coding

NPC2

NPC intracellular cholesterol transporter 2

NCBI Gene: 10577 Ensembl GeneCards UniProt: P61916

Pathway candidate — not linked to PFS or PSSD by any record here

NPC2 is in the library because it belongs to the lipid homeostasis family. No study, report or commentary in the corpus names it, so a variant in NPC2 is not, by itself, evidence of anything related to post-drug syndromes.

Gene summary

A protein-coding gene on chromosome 14 (lipid and cholesterol homeostasis). Encodes a protein containing a lipid recognition domain. The protein may function in regulating the transport of cholesterol through the late endosomal/lysosomal system.

Source: NCBI Gene, accessed 2026-10-07.

Protein reference (UniProt)

Protein: NPC intracellular cholesterol transporter 2
Function: Intracellular cholesterol transporter which acts in concert with NPC1 and plays an important role in the egress of cholesterol from the lysosomal compartment. Unesterified cholesterol that has been released from LDLs in the lumen of the late endosomes/lysosomes is transferred by NPC2 to the cholesterol-binding pocket in the N-terminal domain of NPC1. May bind and mobilize cholesterol that is associated with membranes. NPC2 binds cholesterol with a 1:1 stoichiometry. Can bind a variety of sterols, including lathosterol, desmosterol and the plant sterols stigmasterol and beta-sitosterol. The secreted form of NCP2 regulates biliary cholesterol secretion via stimulation of ABCG5/ABCG8-mediated cholesterol transport (By similarity).
Subcellular location: Secreted; Endoplasmic reticulum; Lysosome.
Tissue specificity: Detected in gallbladder bile. Detected in fibroblasts, kidney, liver, spleen, small intestine, placenta and testis (at protein level). Epididymis.
Associated conditions: Niemann-Pick disease C2 (NPC2).

Source: UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot P61916, release 2026_03, licensed CC BY 4.0. This is the protein’s normal biology, not evidence about post-drug syndromes; associated conditions are inherited disorders of the gene, not PFS, PSSD or PRSD.

Why its pathway is in the library

Cholesterol is the obligate precursor of all steroid hormones; lipid handling sets substrate supply for steroidogenesis and neurosteroid synthesis.

Written for the whole lipid homeostasis family, not for NPC2 specifically.

Mentioned in 0 corpus records

No corpus record names NPC2 directly yet. It is in the library because it sits in a pathway the corpus tracks (Lipid homeostasis).

Also in lipid and cholesterol homeostasis

All 19 genes

Browse by family on the gene families page.

Protein reference (UniProt)

Protein: NPC intracellular cholesterol transporter 2
Function: Intracellular cholesterol transporter which acts in concert with NPC1 and plays an important role in the egress of cholesterol from the lysosomal compartment. Unesterified cholesterol that has been released from LDLs in the lumen of the late endosomes/lysosomes is transferred by NPC2 to the cholesterol-binding pocket in the N-terminal domain of NPC1. May bind and mobilize cholesterol that is associated with membranes. NPC2 binds cholesterol with a 1:1 stoichiometry. Can bind a variety of sterols, including lathosterol, desmosterol and the plant sterols stigmasterol and beta-sitosterol. The secreted form of NCP2 regulates biliary cholesterol secretion via stimulation of ABCG5/ABCG8-mediated cholesterol transport (By similarity).
Subcellular location: Secreted; Endoplasmic reticulum; Lysosome.
Tissue specificity: Detected in gallbladder bile. Detected in fibroblasts, kidney, liver, spleen, small intestine, placenta and testis (at protein level). Epididymis.
Associated conditions: Niemann-Pick disease C2 (NPC2).