Review Article The Fruit Fly Drosophila melanogaster as a Model System to Study Cholesterol Metabolism and Homeostasis

License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cholesterol has long been recognized for its versatile roles in influencing the biophysical properties of cell membranes and for serving as a precursor of steroid hormones. While many aspects of cholesterol biosynthesis are well understood, little is currently known about the molecular mechanisms of cholesterol metabolism and homeostasis. Recently, genetic approaches in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, have been successfully used for the analysis ofmolecularmechanisms that regulate cholesterol metabolism and homeostasis. This paper summarizes the recent studies on genes that regulate cholesterol metabolism and homeostasis, including neverland, Niemann Pick type C (NPC) disease genes, and DHR96. 1