Syntaxin 7 (STX7)

The deduced 261-amino acid STX7 protein contains a putative C-terminal transmembrane domain and 3 coiled-coil domains. The human protein shares 34% and 25% sequence identity with Arabidopsis and yeast Pep12p, respectively. In vitro, recombinant protein bound specifically to alpha-SNAP, a key regulator of transport vesicle fusion at multiple stages of the secretory pathway. Northern blot analysis revealed that syntaxin-7 was expressed as 1.8- and 3.6-kb mRNAs in all tissues tested.STX12 is localized to the recycling endosome compartment, whereas STX7 is found in late endosomes and lysosomes and both are recruited to the phagosome. However, STX12 is acquired earlier before rapidly recycling off the phagosome, whereas STX7 is recruited later and continues to accumulate throughout the phagosome maturation process.