Consortin (CNST)

Targeting of numerous transmembrane proteins to the cell surface is thought to depend on their recognition by cargo receptors that interact with the adaptor machinery for anterograde traffic at the distal end of the Golgi complex. Consortin (CNST) is an integral membrane protein that acts as a binding partner of connexins, the building blocks of gap junctions, and acts as a trans-Golgi network (TGN) receptor involved in connexin targeting to the plasma membrane and recycling from the cell surface. Mouse Cnst encodes a full-length 711-amino acid protein, a shorter 422-amino acid protein, and contains a long N-terminal cytosolic fragment, a C-terminal transmembrane domain, and a short extracellular C-terminal tail. Database analysis showed that consortin orthologs were present only in vertebrates.