The Vps13-like protein BLTP2 is pro-survival and regulates phosphatidylethanolamine levels in the plasma membrane to maintain its fluidity and function

Lipid transport proteins (LTPs) facilitate nonvesicular lipid exchange between cellular compartments and have critical roles in lipid homeostasis ¹ . A new family of bridge-like LTPs (BLTPs) is thought to form lipid-transporting conduits between organelles ² . One, BLTP2, is conserved across species but its function is not known. Here, we show that BLTP2 and its homolog directly regulate plasma membrane (PM) fluidity by increasing the phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) level in the PM. BLTP2 localizes to endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-PM contact sites ^{3 4, 5} , suggesting it transports PE from the ER to the PM. We find BLTP2 works in parallel with another pathway that regulates intracellular PE distribution and PM fluidity ^{6, 7} . BLTP2 expression correlates with breast cancer aggressiveness ^8–10 . We found BLTP2 facilitates growth of a human cancer cell line and sustains its aggressiveness in an in vivo model of metastasis, suggesting maintenance of PM fluidity by BLTP2 may be critical for tumorigenesis in humans.