Syntaxin 11 (STX11)

SNARE proteins play a role in regulating intracellular protein transport between donor and target membranes. This docking and fusion process involves the interaction of specific vesicle-SNAREs with specific cognate target-SNAREs. Both groups found that STX11 encodes a deduced 287-amino acid protein with several predicted coiled-coil domains. Unlike most membrane-associated proteins, STX11 lacks a hydrophobic domain but contains a cysteine-rich C terminus. Like SNAP25, STX11 may be anchored to membranes by palmitoylated cysteines. By Northern blot analysis, Tang et al. (1998) identified 2 STX11 transcripts of approximately 0.8 and 1.7 kb that are particularly abundant in heart and placenta and are detectable at low levels in other tissues but not in brain.