The protein encoded by this gene is a multi-pass membrane protein. It contains a conserved N-terminal Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) domain and a putative sterol-sensing domain (SSD) which includes a YQRL motif functioning as a plasma membrane to trans-Golgi network transport signal in other proteins. This protein takes up free cholesterol into cells through vesicular endocytosis and plays a critical role in the absorption of intestinal cholesterol. It also has the ability to transport alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E). The drug ezetimibe targets this protein and inhibits the absorption of intestinal cholesterol and alpha-tocopherol. In addition, this protein may play a critical role in regulating lipid metabolism. Polymorphic variations in this gene are associated with plasma total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Oct 2009]
Overall distribution
Tissue specific distribution
Overall distribution
Tissue specific distribution
Gscore (Amp):
0.00
Gscore (Del):
0.00
Overall distribution
Tissue specific distribution
Mscore:
0.00
Overall
Tissue specific
Total fusion occurrence:
NA
Overall
Tissue specific
Functional class:
Not specified
JensenLab PubMed score:
222.75 (Percentile rank: 82.95%)
PubTator score:
163.34 (Percentile rank: 83.74%)
Target development/druggability level:
TclinThese targets have activities in DrugCentral (ie. approved drugs) with known mechanism of action.
Tractability (small molecule):
Clinical PrecedenceTargets with drugs in phase II or above; Pre-clinical targets
Tractability (antibody):
Predicted Tractable - High confidenceTargets located in the plasma membrane; Targets with GO cell component terms plasma membrane or secreted
