Protein / target

Synaptic vesicular amine transporter

Encoded bySLC18A2Q05940Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot

UniProt: Q05940 Ensembl: ENSG00000165646 HGNC: HGNC:10935 NCBI Gene: 6571

Clinically validated

Therapeutic maturity

Approved medicines

Open Targets target-level

View by indication →

Clinical trials

Small-molecule tractable

Druggability

Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Monoamine transmembrane transporter

Strongest disease association

Infantile dystonia-parkinsonism

Via encoding gene SLC18A2 · Genetic evidence · score 0.79

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

Electrogenic antiporter that exchanges one cationic monoamine with two intravesicular protons across the membrane of secretory and synaptic vesicles.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Electrogenic antiporter that exchanges one cationic monoamine with two intravesicular protons across the membrane of secretory and synaptic vesicles. Uses the electrochemical proton gradient established by the V-type proton-pump ATPase to accumulate high concentrations of monoamines inside the vesicles prior to their release via exocytosis. Transports a variety of catecholamines such as dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline, histamine, and indolamines such as serotonin (PubMed:23363473, PubMed:37914936, PubMed:38081299, PubMed:38517752, PubMed:8643547). Regulates the transvesicular monoaminergic gradient that determines the quantal size. Mediates somatodendritic dopamine release in hippocampal neurons, likely as part of a regulated secretory pathway that integrates retrograde synaptic signals (By similarity). Acts as a primary transporter for striatal dopamine loading ensuring impulse-dependent release of dopamine at the synaptic cleft (By similarity). Responsible for histamine and serotonin storage and subsequent corelease from mast cell granules (PubMed:8860238)

Subcellular location

Cytoplasmic vesicle, secretory vesicle, synaptic vesicle membraneCytoplasmic vesicle, secretory vesicle membraneCell projection, axonCell projection, dendrite

Domains and Gene Ontology detail (25)

Gene Ontology

Caxon
Cclathrin-sculpted monoamine transport vesicle membrane
Cdendrite
Cdopaminergic synapse
Cmembrane
Cplasma membrane
Csecretory granule membrane
Csynaptic vesicle
Csynaptic vesicle membrane
Cterminal bouton
Fmonoamine transmembrane transporter activity
Fmonoamine:proton antiporter activity

514 aa · 56 kDa · 2 isoforms

Biological roles

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

Synaptic signallingGOImmune signallingUniProt · GO

View supporting evidence

Synaptic signalling

·dopaminergic synapse
·chemical synaptic transmission

Immune signalling

·Electrogenic antiporter that exchanges one cationic monoamine with two intravesicular pr…
·histamine secretion by mast cell
·serotonin secretion by mast cell

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.

Huntington's Disease1 medicine

deutetrabenazine

13 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 1 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.

Drugs targeting this protein

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.

deutetrabenazine

Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Synaptic vesicular amine transporter inhibitor

Indicated for Huntington's Disease

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 SLC18A2

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene SLC18A2that 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.

Infantile dystonia-parkinsonism

0.79Well supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.64

Huntington's Disease

0.76Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.59

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity

0.75Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.61

Movement Disorders

0.68Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.55

Hypertension

0.65Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.53

View evidence synthesis (5)

Infantile dystonia-parkinsonismWell supported

0.79

agreement 0.65–0.93

Genetic100%Literature0%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.64 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

Huntington's DiseaseWell supported

0.76

agreement 0.63–0.88

Clinical83%Animal model14%Literature3%

Open Targets aggregate 0.59 · 3 independent evidence families

Attention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityWell supported

0.75

agreement 0.60–0.91

Clinical95%Literature5%

Open Targets aggregate 0.61 · 2 independent evidence families

Movement DisordersModerately supported

0.68

agreement 0.52–0.83

Clinical98%Literature2%

Open Targets aggregate 0.55 · 2 independent evidence families

HypertensionModerately supported

0.65

agreement 0.50–0.81

Clinical99%Literature1%

Open Targets aggregate 0.53 · 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

Infantile dystonia-parkinsonism0.64

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity0.61

Huntington's Disease0.59

Movement Disorders0.55

Hypertension0.53

Alzheimer's Disease0.51

Drug development

14 compounds recorded · 13 approved · 1 in clinical development

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 (10)

VALBENAZINE TOSYLATEApproval

BENZPHETAMINEApproval

DEXTROAMPHETAMINE SULFATEApproval

DEXTROAMPHETAMINE SACCHARATEApproval

DEUTETRABENAZINEApproval

BENZPHETAMINE HYDROCHLORIDEApproval

VALBENAZINEPhase 3

LISDEXAMFETAMINEApproval

TETRABENAZINEApproval

RESCINNAMINEApproval

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 molecules — Strong

Approved Drug and Structure with Ligand support this modality.

Antibodies — Emerging

Feasibility evidence (go cc high conf and uniprot sigp or tmhmm) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Protein degraders — Emerging

Feasibility evidence (small molecule binder) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (7)

SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · Druggable FamilyAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Safety-related annotations

extrapyramidal symptomsClinPGx

Terms indexed against this target in Open Targets' safety data, with their datasource. These are annotations, not causal claims: the direction of effect (whether activation or inhibition is implicated), species and evidence strength are not captured here, so an entry does not mean that modulating this target is known to cause that condition.

Clinical trials

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.

Identification, Assessment, and Treatment of Tardive Dyskinesia With Deutetrabenazine in Adults With Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities and Co-occurring Psychiatric and/or Behavioral DisordersPHASE4

RECRUITING · via deutetrabenazine · NCT06997198

Impact of Deutetrabenazine on Functional Speech and Gait Dynamics in Huntington DiseasePHASE2/PHASE3

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · via deutetrabenazine · NCT04713982

Real World Effectiveness and Safety of Deutetrabenazine in Chinese Patients With Huntington's Disease (HD) ChoreaPHASE4

COMPLETED · via deutetrabenazine · NCT07601516

The AUDYT Trial: An Open-label Study to Define the Safety, Tolerability and Clinical Activity of Deutetrabenazine (AUstedo) in Adult Study Subjects With DYsToniaPHASE1/PHASE2

COMPLETED · via deutetrabenazine · NCT04173260

View all trials (2)

Efficacy of Deutetrabenazine in Huntington's Disease Patients with Dysphagia: a Randomised, Placebo-controlled Pilot StudyPHASE1

TERMINATED · via deutetrabenazine · NCT04301726

Non-randomized Control Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Symptomatic Drug Therapy for Mild to Moderate Huntington's Disease PatientsPHASE1

UNKNOWN · via deutetrabenazine · NCT04071639

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

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.

Regulatory approval2026-01-08
Approval: Austedo (EMA)
ema · regulatory · ema · via deutetrabenazine

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.