Regulation of lipid homeostasis by the bifunctional SREBF2-miR33a locus.

The sterol regulatory element-binding factor-2 (SREBF2) gene is a bifunctional locus encoding SREBP-2, a well-known transcriptional regulator of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis, and microRNA-33a, which has recently been shown to reduce expression of proteins involved in export of cholesterol and β-oxidation of fatty acids, thus adding an unexpected layer of complexity and fine-tuning to regulation of lipid homeostasis.