{"doi":"10.3390/cells10081851","title":"The Expanding Role of Mitochondria, Autophagy and Lipophagy in Steroidogenesis","abstract":"<jats:p>The fundamental framework of steroidogenesis is similar across steroidogenic cells, especially in initial mitochondrial steps. For instance, the START domain containing protein-mediated cholesterol transport to the mitochondria, and its conversion to pregnenolone by the enzyme P450scc, is conserved across steroidogenic cells. The enzyme P450scc localizes to the inner mitochondrial membrane, which makes the mitochondria essential for steroidogenesis. Despite this commonality, mitochondrial structure, number, and dynamics vary substantially between different steroidogenic cell types, indicating implications beyond pregnenolone biosynthesis. This review aims to focus on the growing roles of mitochondria, autophagy and lipophagy in cholesterol uptake, trafficking and homeostasis in steroidogenic cells and consequently in steroidogenesis. We will focus on these aspects in the context of the physiological need for different steroid hormones and cell-intrinsic inherent features in different steroidogenic cell types beyond mitochondria as a mere site for the beginning of steroidogenesis. The overall goal is to provide an authentic and comprehensive review on the expanding role of steroidogenic cell-intrinsic processes in cholesterol homeostasis and steroidogenesis, and to bring attention to the scientific community working in this field on these promising advancements. Moreover, we will discuss a novel mitochondrial player, prohibitin, and its potential role in steroidogenic mitochondria and cells, and consequently, in steroidogenesis.</jats:p>","journal":"Cells","year":2021,"id":37656,"datarank":2.106857610953504,"base_score":4.343805421853684,"endowment":4.343805421853684,"self_citation_contribution":0.6515708132780527,"citation_network_contribution":1.4552867976754513,"self_endowment_contribution":0.6515708132780527,"citer_contribution":1.4552867976754513,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":76,"citer_count":70,"citers_with_citation_signal":55,"citers_with_endowment":55,"datacite_reuse_total":2,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":188269,"name":"Simarjit Kaur Sidhu","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":188270,"name":"Suresh Mishra","orcid":"0000-0002-0364-1538","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":188268,"name":"Geetika Bassi","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"base_score":4.343805421853684,"endowment":4.343805421853684,"datacite_reuse_total":2,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"34440620","pmcid":"PMC8391558","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W3183573851","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"Canadian Institutes of Health Research","grant_id":"PJT-173394","title":null},{"funder_name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","grant_id":"RGPIN04962-17","title":null},{"funder_name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","grant_id":"unidentified","title":"unidentified"}],"total_grants":3,"fwci":12.1979,"citation_percentile":0.99248125,"influential_citations":2,"citation_trend":[{"year":2022,"count":15},{"year":2023,"count":22},{"year":2024,"count":21},{"year":2025,"count":14},{"year":2026,"count":4}],"oa_status":"gold","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/8/1851/pdf?version=1626932510","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/8/1851/pdf?version=1626932510","host_type":"GOLD"},{"url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/8/1851/pdf?version=1626932510","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/10/8/1851/pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10081851","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34440620","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://doaj.org/article/41ef6399fe574f3f8c7d9852676d11b1","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells10081851","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/8391558","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC8391558","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC8391558?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells10081851","host_type":""}],"fields_of_study":["Cholesterol and Lipid Metabolism","Cancer, Lipids, and Metabolism","Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis","Medicine","Biology","0301 basic medicine","03 medical and health sciences","0303 health sciences","Adrenal Cortex Hormones","Adrenal Glands","Animals","Autophagy","Cholesterol","Cholesterol Side-Chain Cleavage Enzyme","Female","Gonadal Steroid Hormones","Gonads","Humans","Mitochondria","Phosphoproteins","Placenta","Pregnancy","Prohibitins","Repressor Proteins","Signal Transduction","Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein"],"mesh_terms":["Prohibitins","Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein","Adrenal Cortex Hormones","Adrenal Glands","Animals","Autophagy","Cholesterol","Cholesterol Side-Chain Cleavage Enzyme","Female","Gonads","Humans","Mitochondria","Phosphoproteins","Placenta","Pregnancy","Repressor Proteins","Gonadal Steroid Hormones","Signal Transduction"],"keywords":["Cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme","Pregnenolone","Mitochondrion","Cell biology","Autophagy","Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein","Biology","Inner mitochondrial membrane","Context (archaeology)","Chemistry","Biochemistry","Hormone","Enzyme","Steroid","Cytochrome P450","Gene expression","Testis","Ovary","Placenta","Cholesterol","Mitochondrial","Adrenal gland","Lipophagy","Review","Adrenal Cortex Hormones","Pregnancy","Adrenal Glands","Prohibitins","Animals","Humans","Gonadal Steroid Hormones","Gonads","QH573-671","Phosphoproteins","Mitochondria","Repressor Proteins","Female","Cytology","Signal Transduction"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":3,"sdg_label":"3. 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