syntaxin binding protein 5 (tomosyn)

Syntaxin 1 is a component of the 7S and 20S SNARE complexes which are involved in docking and fusion of synaptic vesicles with the presynaptic plasma membrane. This gene encodes a syntaxin 1 binding protein. In rat, a similar protein dissociates syntaxin 1 from the Munc18/n-Sec1/rbSec1 complex to form a 10S complex, an intermediate which can be converted to the 7S SNARE complex. Thus this protein is thought to be involved in neurotransmitter release by stimulating SNARE complex formation. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been identified. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]