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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Endocrinol.

Sec. Experimental Endocrinology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1627166

Cholesterol and Sterols in Molluscan Endocrinology: Past, Present, Future

Provisionally accepted
István FodorIstván Fodor1*Gabriel V MARKOVGabriel V MARKOV2Luis Alfonso Yañez-GuerraLuis Alfonso Yañez-Guerra3Károly ElekesKároly Elekes1Edit PollákEdit Pollák4László MolnárLászló Molnár1Zsolt PirgerZsolt Pirger1
  • 1Balaton Limnological Research Institute, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Tihany, Hungary
  • 2Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie Intégrative des Modèles Marins, Roscoff, France
  • 3Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
  • 4Department of Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

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Recently, critical evaluations have challenged the presence of vertebrate-type sex steroid signaling in mollusks, underlying the need of new research lines to shed light on molluscan endocrinology. The investigation of cholesterol metabolism and the potential biological role of sterols in mollusks has emerged as a growing research field in recent years. However, there is no clear consensus on several aspects of this topic and there is a great lack of relevant molecular data. In this perspective paper, we present an overview of our current knowledge on the role of cholesterol and sterols in mollusks and try to outline possible future research directions in molluscan endocrinology. Our study also provides a framework for studying cholesterol synthesis, uptake, transport, and metabolism in mollusks.

Keywords: Mollusks, Cholesterol, Sterols, Synthesis, transport, Metabolism, sex steroids

Received: 12 May 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Fodor, MARKOV, Yañez-Guerra, Elekes, Pollák, Molnár and Pirger. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: István Fodor, Balaton Limnological Research Institute, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Tihany, Hungary

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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