NPC1 and microcephaly: Microcephaly is one of the drastic outcomes that can occur due to NPC depletion, and among the potential mechanisms leading to microcephaly are: reduced proliferative capacity, prolonged mitosis, apoptosis and premature differentiation of NPCs (O’Driscoll and Jeggo, 2008; Pilaz et al., 2016; Phan and Holland, 2021).