Pathway candidateNCBI-verifiedprotein-coding

STARD3

StAR related lipid transfer domain containing 3

NCBI Gene: 10948 Ensembl GeneCards UniProt: Q14849

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

STARD3 is in the library because it belongs to the steroid synthesis family. No study, report or commentary in the corpus names it, so a variant in STARD3 is not, by itself, evidence of anything related to post-drug syndromes.

Gene summary

A protein-coding gene on chromosome 17 (steroid hormone synthesis). Encodes a member of a subfamily of lipid trafficking proteins that are characterized by a C-terminal steroidogenic acute regulatory domain and an N-terminal metastatic lymph node 64 domain. The protein localizes to the membranes of late endosomes and may be involved in exporting cholesterol.

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

Protein reference (UniProt)

Protein: StAR-related lipid transfer protein 3
Function: Sterol-binding protein that mediates cholesterol transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to endosomes. The sterol transport mechanism is triggered by phosphorylation of FFAT motif that leads to membrane tethering between the endoplasmic reticulum and late endosomes via interaction with VAPA and VAPB. Acts as a lipid transfer protein that redirects sterol to the endosome at the expense of the cell membrane and favors membrane formation inside endosomes. May also mediate cholesterol transport between other membranes, such as mitochondria membrane or cell membrane. However, such results need additional experimental evidence; probably mainly mediates cholesterol transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to endosomes. Does not activate transcriptional cholesterol sensing. Able to bind other lipids, such as lutein, a xanthophyll carotenoids that form the macular pigment of the retina.
Subcellular location: Late endosome membrane.
Tissue specificity: Expressed in retina.

Source: UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot Q14849, 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

Steroid-synthesis enzymes sit directly on the pathways perturbed by 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors and SSRIs; inherited variation here is a candidate susceptibility factor for persistent post-drug phenotypes.

Written for the whole steroid synthesis family, not for STARD3 specifically.

Mentioned in 0 corpus records

No corpus record names STARD3 directly yet. It is in the library because it sits in a pathway the corpus tracks (Steroid synthesis).

Also in steroid hormone synthesis

All 38 genes

Browse by family on the gene families page.

Gene summary

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

Protein reference (UniProt)

Protein: StAR-related lipid transfer protein 3
Function: Sterol-binding protein that mediates cholesterol transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to endosomes. The sterol transport mechanism is triggered by phosphorylation of FFAT motif that leads to membrane tethering between the endoplasmic reticulum and late endosomes via interaction with VAPA and VAPB. Acts as a lipid transfer protein that redirects sterol to the endosome at the expense of the cell membrane and favors membrane formation inside endosomes. May also mediate cholesterol transport between other membranes, such as mitochondria membrane or cell membrane. However, such results need additional experimental evidence; probably mainly mediates cholesterol transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to endosomes. Does not activate transcriptional cholesterol sensing. Able to bind other lipids, such as lutein, a xanthophyll carotenoids that form the macular pigment of the retina.
Subcellular location: Late endosome membrane.
Tissue specificity: Expressed in retina.