Description
Specificity of vesicular transport is regulated, in part, by the interaction of a vesicle-associated membrane protein termed synaptobrevin
VAMP with a target compartment membrane protein termed syntaxin. These proteins, together with SNAP25 (synaptosome-associated protein of 25 kDa), form a complex which serves as a binding site for the general membrane fusion machinery. Synaptobrevin
VAMP and syntaxin are believed to be involved in vesicular transport in most, if not all cells, while SNAP25 is present almost exclusively in the brain, suggesting that a ubiquitously expressed homolog of SNAP25 exists to facilitate transport vesicle
target membrane fusion in other tissues. This protein is structurally and functionally similar to SNAP25 and binds tightly to multiple syntaxins and synaptobrevins
VAMPs. It is an essential component of the high affinity receptor for the general membrane fusion machinery and is an important regulator of transport vesicle docking and fusion. Two alternative transcript variants encoding different protein isoforms have been described for this gene