StarD4 protein is a member of the StarD4 subfamily of steroidogenic acute regulatory-related lipid transfer (START) domain proteins that includes StarD5 and StarD6, proteins whose functions remain poorly defined. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize StarD4ʼs sterol binding and to determine in a hepatocyte culture model its sterol transport capabilities. Cholesterol is a structural component of mammalian cell membranes and also serves as a precursor to bile acids (in the liver), steroid hormones (in the adrenal, testis, and ovaries), and vitamin D. Homeostasis of cholesterol within the body is maintained through the coordinated regulation of its cell-mediated uptake, transport/trafficking, sorting, biosynthesis, storage (i.e., esterification), secretion, and catabolism to bile acids (1). More specifically, the steroidogenic acute regulatory-related lipid transfer (START) domain superfamily of proteins has been shown to be involved in several pathways of intracellular trafficking of cholesterol (2-4). It has been predicted that all proteins with a START domain contain a similar binding pocket with modifications in that pocket that determine ligand binding specificity and function (5). The START domains are 200-210 amino acid motifs that appear in a wide range of proteins and have been implicated in several cellular functions, including lipid transport and metabolism, signal transduction, and transcriptional regulation (3, 4, 6). The START-related lipid transfer protein 4 (StarD4) belongs to the StarD4 subfamily, a START subfamily that also contains the proteins StarD5 and StarD6. The proteins in the StarD4 subfamily have been shown to contain 205-233 amino acid residues, sharing 26-32% identity with each other (7). Within the StarD4 subfamily, StarD5 has been shown in vitro to bind cholesterol and 25-hydroxycholesterol (4). StarD1 and MLN64/StarD3 (the nearest related proteins to the StarD4 subfamily) have been shown to bind only cholesterol (4,8). Furthermore, full-length StarD1, StarD4, StarD5 and truncated MLN64/StarD3 have been reported to increase steroidogenesis and/or increase free cholesterol in the microsomes after overexpression in cell culture, representative evidence of their ability to transfer cholesterol (4, 9-12).The first START domain protein crystal structure reported was the C-terminal portion of human MLN64/ StarD3 (8), followed subsequently by the structure of mouse StarD4 (13). The protein structures of MLN64/ StarD3 and StarD4 revealed similar secondary structural elements and a hydrophobic tunnel with a size consistent with the binding of one cholesterol molecule (8, 13). Less