Oxysterol binding protein-like 9 is a protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 that in humans is encoded by the OSBPL9 gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

.

This gene encodes a member of the oxysterol-binding protein

Oxysterol-binding protein

Oxysterol-binding proteins are evolutionary related proteins involved with sterol synthesis and/or its regulation . These include mammalian oxysterol-binding protein , a protein of about 800 amino-acid residues that binds a variety of oxysterols ; yeast OSH1, a protein of 859 residues that also...

 (OSBP) family, a group of intracellular lipid receptors. Most members contain an N-terminal pleckstrin homology domain

Pleckstrin homology domain

Pleckstrin homology domain is a protein domain of approximately 120 amino acids that occurs in a wide range of proteins involved in intracellular signaling or as constituents of the cytoskeleton....

 and a highly conserved C-terminal OSBP-like sterol-binding domain, although some members contain only the sterol-binding domain. This family member functions as a cholesterol

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...

 transfer protein that regulates Golgi

Golgi apparatus

The Golgi apparatus is an organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. It was identified in 1898 by the Italian physician Camillo Golgi, after whom the Golgi apparatus is named....

 structure and function. Multiple transcript variants, most of which encode distinct isoforms, have been identified. Related pseudogene

Pseudogene

Pseudogenes are dysfunctional relatives of known genes that have lost their protein-coding ability or are otherwise no longer expressed in the cell...

s have been identified on chromosomes 3, 11 and 12.