胆固醇稳态至少部分由固醇调节元件（SRE）结合蛋白（如SREBP1；MIM 184756）和肝脏X受体（如LXRA；MIM 602423）调节当甾醇耗尽时，lxrs失活，srebps被裂解，然后结合启动子sres，激活参与胆固醇生物合成和摄取的基因。甾醇转运是由囊泡或可溶性蛋白载体介导的，如甾体生成急性调节蛋白（STAR；MIM 600617）STAR与一个含有200-210个氨基酸的STAR相关脂质转移（START）结构域的蛋白质家族同源，包括STARD4（Soccio等人，2002年[PubMed 12011452]）。
Cholesterol homeostasis is regulated, at least in part, by sterol regulatory element (SRE)-binding proteins (e.g., SREBP1; MIM 184756) and by liver X receptors (e.g., LXRA; MIM 602423). Upon sterol depletion, LXRs are inactive and SREBPs are cleaved, after which they bind promoter SREs and activate genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis and uptake. Sterol transport is mediated by vesicles or by soluble protein carriers, such as steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (STAR; MIM 600617). STAR is homologous to a family of proteins containing a 200- to 210-amino acid STAR-related lipid transfer (START) domain, including STARD4 (Soccio et al., 2002 [PubMed 12011452]).