StAR-related lipid transfer domain protein 13 (STARD13) also known as deleted in liver cancer 2 protein (DLC-2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the STARD13gene and a member of the DLC family of proteins.[5][6]
STARD13 serves as a Rho GTPase-activating protein (GAP), a type of protein that regulates members of the Rho family of GTPases.[7] It selectively activates RhoA and CDC42 and suppresses cell growth by inhibiting actin stress fiber assembly.[7]
The protein consists of an N-terminal sterile alpha motif (SAM) domain,[8] a serine-rich domain, a RhoGAP domain and at the C-terminus, a StAR-related lipid-transfer domain (START).
The protein was identified in part through its differential expression in cancers. A low level of STARD13 was observed in less differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma tissue with higher RhoA expression. A small patient study finds that the absence of STARD13 in hepatocellular carcinomas correlates with higher levels of RhoA and a poorer prognosis than patients with carcinomas that were STARD13-positive.[9]
^Li, Hongyan; Fung, King-Leung; Jin, Dong-Yan; Chung, Stephen S. M.; Ching, Yick-Pang; Ng, Irene Oi-lin; Sze, Kong-Hung; Ko, Ben C. B.; Sun, Hongzhe (2007-06-01). "Solution structures, dynamics, and lipid-binding of the sterile alpha-motif domain of the deleted in liver cancer 2". Proteins. 67 (4): 1154–1166. doi:10.1002/prot.21361. ISSN1097-0134. PMID17380510. S2CID20407564.
Nagaraja GM, Kandpal RP (January 2004). "Chromosome 13q12 encoded Rho GTPase activating protein suppresses growth of breast carcinoma cells, and yeast two-hybrid screen shows its interaction with several proteins". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 313 (3): 654–65. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2003.12.001. PMID14697242.
