Transfer of cholesterol by the NPC team.

The mechanisms of intracellular cholesterol transport are largely unknown. In this issue of Cell Metabolism, Wang et al. (2010) identify amino acid residues on the lumenal lysosomal protein Niemann-Pick C2 (NPC2) that are required for intralysosomal transfer of endocytosed cholesterol to membrane-bound NPC1 via a process that avoids movement of hydrophobic cholesterol through the aqueous phase. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.