Syntaxin 18 (STX18)

Using a yeast 2-hybrid screen with NAPA cDNA as bait, Hatsuzawa et al. (2000) identified a partial human cDNA encoding a novel syntaxin, which they called syntaxin-18. They isolated a complete cDNA by screening a human brain cDNA library. The deduced 335-amino acid protein contains elements similar to other syntaxins, including predicted coiled-coil regions and a putative transmembrane domain near the C terminus. Syntaxin-18 shares 28% sequence identity with the C. elegans T10H9 predicted gene product, but low sequence similarity to other known syntaxins. Northern blot analysis detected ubiquitous expression of a 1.8-kb STX18 transcript. Using subcellular fractionation and immunofluorescence, Hatsuzawa et al. (2000) showed that syntaxin-18 is principally located in the endoplasmic reticulum.