NPC1 and nasopharyngeal carcinoma: In addition, alterations in release of the LE/LY cholesterol by mutations in NPC1/2 proteins cause Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease (Figure 2), a progressive and fatal visceral, neurological and psychiatric disorder characterized by increased accumulation of unesterified free cholesterol and other lipids (e.g., glycosphingolipids) predominantly in LE/LY in NPC patient fibroblasts and in axons of cultured neurons with reduced cholesterol levels in the PM.