Cholesterol is an essential compound in mammalian cells because it is involved in a wide range of functions, including as a key component of membranes, precursor of important molecules such as hormones, bile acids and vitamin D. The cholesterol transport across the circulatory system is a wellknown process in contrast to the intracellular cholesterol transport, which is poorly understood. Recently in our laboratory, we identified a novel protein in C. elegans involved in dietary cholesterol uptake, which we have named ChUP-1. Insillicoanalysis identified two putative orthologue candidate proteins in mammals. The proteins SIDT1 and SIDT2 share identity and conserved cholesterol binding (CRAC) domains with C. elegans ChUP-1. Both mammalian proteins are annotated as RNA transporters in databases. In the present study, we show evidence indicating that SIDT1 and SIDT2 not only do not transport RNA, but they are involved in cholesterol transport. Furthermore, we show that single point mutations directed to disrupt the CRAC domains of both proteins prevent FRET between SIDT1 and SIDT2 and the cholesterol analogue dehydroergosterol (DHE) and alter cholesterol transport.Cholesterol is an essential molecule in mammals not only for its structural function in cell membranes, where it regulates stability, fluidity, integrity and permeability 1, 2 . Cholesterol also plays a significant role as a signaling molecule in the cells and is a precursor of other important molecules such as steroid hormones, bile acids and vitamin D.Due to the properties of cholesterol, as a highly hydrophobic molecule, it needs specialized transport mechanisms such as in the circulatory system, where it is carried as a component of lipoproteins 3 . This mechanism of cholesterol transport is well known, unlike the intracellular cholesterol transport, which remains poorly understood 4-9 . Several proteins have been identified to interact directly with cholesterol 10 . The ABC transporters are one of the most studied proteins involved in specific sterol transport across the plasma membrane of cells [6][7][8] . Another example of specific uptake is the transport protein NPC1L1, which is directly involved in the uptake of free cholesterol from the luminal space of the intestine and into enterocytes [11][12][13][14][15] . Once inside the cell, the mechanisms of cholesterol transport and redistribution and the proteins involved in such tasks remain largely unidentified 8 . There have been proposed three different mechanisms to regulate the cholesterol dynamics inside the cell 5 : transport diffusion, through contact sites between adjacent membranes and cytoplasm transport using carrier proteins.Several proteins and protein domains have been identified to interact with cholesterol 10,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] . One of such domains in proteins is the so-called cholesterol recognition/interaction amino acid Consensus (CRAC) domain 29,30 . The sequence of this motif is characterized by the presence of the following amino acids: V/L-X(...