| HGNC Family | StAR-related lipid transfer (START) domain containing (STARD) |
| Name | StAR-related lipid transfer (START) domain containing 6 |
| Description | 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 STARD6 (Soccio et al., 2002 [PubMed 12011452]).[supplied by OMIM, Mar 2008] |
| Summary |
{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nSTARD6 is a member of the StarD4 subfamily within the START domain protein family that participates in the non‐vesicular transport of sterols. Although its lipid binding pocket is structurally similar to other family members that bind cholesterol, STARD6’s intracellular regulation and subcellular localization distinguish it from its homologs, suggesting a unique contribution to cholesterol homeostasis and intracellular sterol sorting."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nHigh-resolution solution structure and dynamic studies have revealed that STARD6 undergoes concerted microsecond–millisecond fluctuations—particularly in the α1 loop and the C-terminal helix—that facilitate the opening of its binding cavity for ligand entry. Notably, these studies demonstrate that STARD6 specifically binds testosterone, providing key mechanistic insights into its ligand selectivity and the conformational changes essential for its lipid-transfer function."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nIn the context of steroidogenic tissues, investigations in human ovarian cells have detected STARD6 transcripts as a splice variant; however, unlike other members such as STARD4 and STARD1, STARD6 does not exhibit protein-level expression or responsiveness to stimuli that trigger steroidogenesis. This observation suggests that although STARD6 possesses the intrinsic capacity for sterol binding and transfer, its role in supplying cholesterol for steroidogenic processes in the ovary appears to be limited or possibly regulated differently from its counterparts."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Maria Calderon-Dominguez, Gregorio Gil, Miguel Angel Medina, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The StarD4 subfamily of steroidogenic acute regulatory-related lipid transfer (START) domain proteins: new players in cholesterol metabolism."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Int J Biochem Cell Biol (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.biocel.2014.01.002"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocel.2014.01.002"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "24440759"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24440759"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Danny Létourneau, Mikaël Bédard, Jérôme Cabana, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "STARD6 on steroids: solution structure, multiple timescale backbone dynamics and ligand binding mechanism."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Sci Rep (2016)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/srep28486"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28486"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "27340016"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27340016"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nawal A Yahya, Steven R King, Bo Shi, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Differential regulation of STARD1, STARD4 and STARD6 in the human ovary."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Endocrinol (2024)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1530/JOE-23-0385"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-23-0385"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "38829257"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38829257"}]}]}]}
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| Proteins | STAR6_HUMAN |
| NCBI Gene ID | 147323 |
| API | |
| Download Associations | |
| Predicted Functions |
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| Co-expressed Genes |
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| Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines |
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STARD6 has 2,735 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, functional term, phrase or reference, chemical, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 68 datasets.
Click the + buttons to view associations for STARD6 from the datasets below.
If available, associations are ranked by standardized value
| Dataset | Summary | |
|---|---|---|
| Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | tissues with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles | tissue samples with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray | tissue samples with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset. | |
| Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | tissues with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | cell types and tissues with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | cell types and tissues with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles | cell lines with high or low copy number of STARD6 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset. | |
| CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles | cell lines with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations | cell types associated with STARD6 gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset. | |
| ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles | transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of STARD6 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset. | |
| ChEA Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors binding the promoter of STARD6 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 | transcription factors binding the promoter of STARD6 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset. | |
| CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas | gene perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset. | |
| COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores | cellular components co-occuring with STARD6 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset. | |
| COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 | cellular components co-occuring with STARD6 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
| COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles | cell lines with high or low copy number of STARD6 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset. | |
| COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles | cell lines with STARD6 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset. | |
| CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions | chemicals interacting with STARD6 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset. | |
| CTD Gene-Disease Associations | diseases associated with STARD6 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset. | |
| DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency | cell lines with fitness changed by STARD6 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset. | |
| DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 | diseases associated with STARD6 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
| DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores | diseases co-occuring with STARD6 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset. | |
| DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 | diseases co-occuring with STARD6 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
| DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations | phenotypes associated with STARD6 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset. | |
| ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles | histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at STARD6 gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset. | |
| ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles | transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of STARD6 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset. | |
| ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors binding the promoter of STARD6 gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells | PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing STARD6 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset. | |
| GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations | diseases associated with STARD6 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations dataset. | |
| GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations | biological terms co-occuring with STARD6 gene in literature-supported statements describing functions of genes from the GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations dataset. | |
| GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures | PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing STARD6 from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases | disease perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations | gene perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Kinase Perturbations | kinase perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Kinase Perturbations dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules | small molecule perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Transcription Factor Perturbations | transcription factor perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Transcription Factor Perturbations dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections | virus perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections dataset. | |
| GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 | biological processes involving STARD6 gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 dataset. | |
| GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 | molecular functions performed by STARD6 gene from the curated GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 dataset. | |
| GTEx eQTL 2025 | SNPs regulating expression of STARD6 gene from the GTEx eQTL 2025 dataset. | |
| GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | tissues with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other tissues from the GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles 2023 | tissues with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other tissues from the GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles 2023 dataset. | |
| GWAS Catalog SNP-Phenotype Associations 2025 | phenotypes associated with STARD6 gene in GWAS datasets from the GWAS Catalog SNP-Phenotype Associations 2025 dataset. | |
| Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles | cell lines with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other cell lines from the Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| HPA Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles | cell lines with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other cell lines from the HPA Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| HPA Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | tissues with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other tissues from the HPA Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| HPA Tissue Protein Expression Profiles | tissues with high or low expression of STARD6 protein relative to other tissues from the HPA Tissue Protein Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| HuGE Navigator Gene-Phenotype Associations | phenotypes associated with STARD6 gene by text-mining GWAS publications from the HuGE Navigator Gene-Phenotype Associations dataset. | |
| InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations | protein domains predicted for STARD6 protein from the InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations dataset. | |
| JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets 2025 | transcription factors regulating expression of STARD6 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| JASPAR Predicted Mouse Transcription Factor Targets 2025 | transcription factors regulating expression of STARD6 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Mouse Transcription Factor Targets 2025 dataset. | |
| JASPAR Predicted Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors regulating expression of STARD6 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles | cell lines with high or low copy number of STARD6 gene relative to other cell lines from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset. | |
| KnockTF Gene Expression Profiles with Transcription Factor Perturbations | transcription factor perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the KnockTF Gene Expression Profiles with Transcription Factor Perturbations dataset. | |
| LOCATE Curated Protein Localization Annotations | cellular components containing STARD6 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the LOCATE Curated Protein Localization Annotations dataset. | |
| LOCATE Predicted Protein Localization Annotations | cellular components predicted to contain STARD6 protein from the LOCATE Predicted Protein Localization Annotations dataset. | |
| MiRTarBase microRNA Targets | microRNAs targeting STARD6 gene in low- or high-throughput microRNA targeting studies from the MiRTarBase microRNA Targets dataset. | |
| PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations | gene perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset. | |
| PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Mouse Gene Perturbations | gene perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset. | |
| Reactome Pathways 2014 | pathways involving STARD6 protein from the Reactome Pathways dataset. | |
| Reactome Pathways 2024 | pathways involving STARD6 protein from the Reactome Pathways 2024 dataset. | |
| Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 | transcription factors regulating expression of STARD6 gene from the Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 dataset. | |
| RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures | drug perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures dataset. | |
| RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures | gene perturbations changing expression of STARD6 gene from the RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures dataset. | |
| TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors | tissue samples with high or low expression of STARD6 gene relative to other tissue samples from the TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors dataset. | |
| TISSUES Experimental Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 | tissues with high expression of STARD6 protein in proteomics datasets from the TISSUES Experimental Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
| TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores | tissues co-occuring with STARD6 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores dataset. | |
| TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 | tissues co-occuring with STARD6 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
