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Protein / target

Carbamoyl-phosphate synthase [ammonia], mitochondrial

Encoded byCPS1P31327Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
1
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
View by indication →
3
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Carbamoyl-phosphate synthase (glutamine-hydrolyzing)

Strongest disease association

Venous Thromboembolism

Via encoding gene CPS1 · Genetic evidence · score 0.85

Therapeutic position

Established drug target

Small molecules

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Involved in the urea cycle of ureotelic animals where the enzyme plays an important role in removing excess ammonia from the cell

Subcellular location

MitochondrionNucleus, nucleolusCell membrane
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (53)

Domains & features

Glutamine amidotransferase type-1ATP-grasp 1ATP-grasp 2MGS-like

Gene Ontology

  • Ccytoplasm
  • Ccytosol
  • Cmitochondrial inner membrane
  • Cmitochondrial matrix
  • Cmitochondrial nucleoid
  • Cmitochondrion
  • Cnucleolus
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Cprotein-containing complex
  • FATP binding
  • Fcalcium ion binding
  • Fcarbamoyl-phosphate synthase (ammonia) activity

1500 aa · 165 kDa · 3 isoforms

Biological roles

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Lipid & lipoprotein metabolismGOGrowth-factor signallingGO
View supporting evidence

Lipid & lipoprotein metabolism

  • ·phospholipid binding
  • ·triglyceride catabolic process

Growth-factor signalling

  • ·cellular response to fibroblast growth factor stimulus

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Approved medicines with mapped indications

1 medicine · 1 area

Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.

Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors1 medicine

Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.

Drugs targeting this protein

1

How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

carglumic acid
Narrow target profileApprovedPositive allosteric modulator

Carbamoyl-phosphate synthase [ammonia], mitochondrial positive allosteric modulator

Indicated for Amino Acid Metabolism, Inborn Errors

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene CPS1

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene CPS1that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

Venous Thromboembolism
0.85Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.52

Renal Insufficiency
0.83Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.50

Kidney Failure, Chronic
0.82Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.50

Genetic Diseases, Inborn
0.82Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.50

Pulmonary arterial hypertension
0.51Moderately supported

Genetic literature evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.47

View evidence synthesis (5)
Venous ThromboembolismWell supported
0.85
agreement 0.730.97
Genetic100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.52 · 1 independent evidence family

Renal InsufficiencyWell supported
0.83
agreement 0.710.95
Genetic100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.50 · 1 independent evidence family

Kidney Failure, ChronicWell supported
0.82
agreement 0.680.96
Genetic98%Literature2%

Open Targets aggregate 0.50 · 2 independent evidence families

Genetic Diseases, InbornWell supported
0.82
agreement 0.680.96
Genetic99%Literature1%

Open Targets aggregate 0.50 · 2 independent evidence families

Pulmonary arterial hypertensionModerately supported
0.51
agreement 0.350.66
Genetic literature93%Literature7%

Open Targets aggregate 0.47 · 2 independent evidence families

The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
Venous Thromboembolism0.52
Renal Insufficiency0.50
Kidney Failure, Chronic0.50
Genetic Diseases, Inborn0.50
Pulmonary arterial hypertension0.47

Drug development

1 compounds recorded · 1 approved

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 1 drug that targets this protein in Forefront's canonical graph (1 with a mapped approved indication, shown above): these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (1)
CARGLUMIC ACIDApproval

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

Small moleculesStrong

Approved Drug and Structure with Ligand support this modality.

AntibodiesEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot loc high conf and uniprot loc med conf) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Protein degradersEmerging

Feasibility evidence (database ubiquitination and half-life data) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (11)
SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · High-Quality PocketSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt loc high confAB · UniProt loc med confAB · GO CC med confPR · Database UbiquitinationPR · Half-life DataPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Clinical trials

3

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

2

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for a drug that targets this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.

  1. Regulatory approval2017-06-23

    Approval: Ucedane (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via carglumic acid

  2. Regulatory approval2003-01-24

    Approval: Carbaglu (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via carglumic acid

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.