Description
Product Characteristics:
PBR (Peripheral type Benzodiazepine Receptor) is a ubiquitous protein (18 kDa) found in most steroidogenic tissues. It is located primarily in the outer mitochondrial membrane of steroid producing tissues and is found in association with a 34 kDa voltage dependent anion channel protein (VDAC). PBR interacts with some benzodiazepines and has different affinities than its endogenous counterpart. PBR appears to be a key factor in the transport of cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane to permit the initiation of steroid hormone synthesis. It is thought to be part of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (PT) and to be involved in apoptosis. It is speculated that patients with congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia, who cannot make any steroids, might have a genetic lesion in BZRP. A short form, PBRS is also expressed in the same tissues, but at a level about ten times that of PBR.
Subcellular location: Cytoplasm
Synonyms: BPBS, BZRP, DBI, IBP, Isoquinoline carboxamide-binding protein, MBR, mDRC, Mitochondrial benzodiazepine receptor, PBR, PBS, Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor-related protein, Peripheral type benzodiazepine receptor, pk18, PKBS, PTBR, Ptbzr, PTBZR02, RATPTBZR02, translocator protein 18 kDa, Translocator protein, TSPO, Tspo1, Benzodiazapine receptor peripheral, Benzodiazepine peripheral binding site.
Target Information: Present mainly in the mitochondrial compartment of peripheral tissues, the protein encoded by this gene interacts with some benzodiazepines and has different affinities than its endogenous counterpart. The protein is a key factor in the flow of cholesterol into mitochondria to permit the initiation of steroid hormone synthesis. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been reported\, one of the variants lacks an internal exon and is considered non-coding, and the other variants encode the same protein. [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2012]