Cholesterol: Enhancing FGF2 translocation in unconventional secretion

Fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) is a potent mitogen that is secreted through an unconventional secretory pathway bycrossing the plasma membrane directly. In this current issue, Lolicato et al. (2022.J. Cell Biol.https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202106123)find that the secretion process is promoted by cholesterol, which enhances PI(4,5)P-2 accessibility to FGF2binding and alters membrane property to increase FGF2 translocation.