Protein / target

Sodium/potassium-transporting ATPase subunit alpha-2

ATP1A2P50993Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
5
Approved medicines
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

P-type sodium:potassium-exchanging transporter activity

Primary system

Nervous system

Strongest disease association

familial or sporadic hemiplegic migraine

Genetic literature evidence · score 0.94

Therapeutic maturity

Clinically validated target

5 approved medicines against this target

Druggability

Small molecule

Open Targets tractability · Approved Drug

Clinical development

5 approved · 1 in clinical development

30 linked trials

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

Catalytic subunit of the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase that hydrolyzes ATP to exchange ions across the plasma membrane, exporting 3 Na(+) and importing 2 K(+) per cycle (PubMed:33880529). It undergoes ATP-driven conformational changes that allow alternating binding and release of Na(+) and K(+) ions across the membrane (By similarity). This process maintains essential Na(+) and K(+) gradients for membrane potential and cellular function (PubMed:33880529)

Subcellular location

MembraneCell membrane
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (66)

Gene Ontology

  • Ccaveola
  • Ccell projection
  • Ccell surface
  • Ccytoplasm
  • Cdendritic spine
  • Cendoplasmic reticulum
  • Cendosome
  • Cextracellular vesicle
  • Cintercalated disc
  • Cmembrane
  • Cneuronal cell body
  • Corganelle membrane

1020 aa · 112 kDa

Biological roles

Reactome v97

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

Ion channel gatingGOMuscle contractionGOMotor controlGOExcitatory neurotransmissionGOSynaptic signallingGOMetabolic enzyme activityGO
View supporting evidence

Ion channel gating

  • ·ATPase-coupled monoatomic cation transmembrane transporter activity
  • ·monoatomic cation transmembrane transport
  • ·negative regulation of calcium ion transmembrane transport
  • ·potassium ion transmembrane transport

Muscle contraction

  • ·cardiac muscle contraction
  • ·regulation of cardiac muscle contraction by regulation of the release of sequestered cal…
  • ·regulation of muscle contraction
  • ·regulation of striated muscle contraction

Motor control

  • ·locomotion
  • ·locomotory exploration behavior

Excitatory neurotransmission

  • ·regulation of synaptic transmission, glutamatergic

Synaptic signalling

  • ·regulation of synaptic transmission, glutamatergic

Metabolic enzyme activity

  • ·ATP metabolic process
View underlying pathways (3)

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

Interaction neighbourhood

STRING v12.0

Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.

ATP1B1ATP1B2ATP1A3ATP1B3FXYD2ATP1B4FXYD1CACNA1AATP1A4ATP1A1ATP1A2

10 strongest partners — larger node and heavier line mean higher confidence

Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.

Drugs targeting this protein

1

Whether each drug engages this protein directly or through a complex, and how many other targets are recorded for it. Direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

Digoxin
ApprovedInhibitor

Sodium/potassium-transporting ATPase inhibitor

Appears in clinical studies involving congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, cardiovascular disorder

Acts on a complex — shared with ATP1A1, ATP1B2, ATP1B1 +4 more · 1 of 8 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

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

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically — disease associations, drugs in development, tractability and safety, from Open Targets.

Strongest genetic associations

Human genetic evidence — the most direct causal link between this target and a disease.

familial or sporadic hemiplegic migraine0.94

Genetic literature · overall 0.67

alternating hemiplegia of childhood0.94

Genetic literature · overall 0.69

migraine, familial hemiplegic, 20.93

Genetic · overall 0.83

familial hemiplegic migraine0.92

Genetic · overall 0.65

developmental and epileptic encephalopathy 980.89

Genetic · overall 0.73

Highest-confidence therapeutic associations

Diseases where a drug acting on this target has already reached clinical development.

congestive heart failure0.99

Clinical · overall 0.60

atrial fibrillation0.98

Clinical · overall 0.59

heart failure0.95

Clinical · overall 0.58

Highest overall evidence

Remaining associations by Open Targets' aggregated evidence score.

alternating hemiplegia of childhood 10.77

Genetic literature

fetal akinesia, respiratory insufficiency, microcephaly, polymicrogyria, and dysmorphic facies0.72

Genetic

Show all associations
migraine, familial hemiplegic, 20.83
alternating hemiplegia of childhood 10.77
developmental and epileptic encephalopathy 980.73
fetal akinesia, respiratory insufficiency, microcephaly, polymicrogyria, and dysmorphic facies0.72
alternating hemiplegia of childhood0.69
familial or sporadic hemiplegic migraine0.67
familial hemiplegic migraine0.65
congestive heart failure0.60
atrial fibrillation0.59
heart failure0.58

Open Targets ranks 465 associations for this target and we store the top 10 by aggregated score. The long tail is largely literature co-mention and RNA-expression evidence, not evidence that this target drives those diseases.

Known drugs · 6 total

DIGOXINApproval

congestive heart failure · atrial fibrillation · heart failure

DESLANOSIDEApproval

cardiovascular disorder · Arrhythmia · heart failure

LANATOSIDE CApproval

cardiovascular disorder

ACETYLDIGITOXINApproval

cardiovascular disorder · congestive heart failure

DIGITOXINApproval

cardiovascular disorder · Arrhythmia · heart failure

ISTAROXIMEPhase 2 3

heart disorder · heart failure · heart failure

Tractability

SM · Approved DrugSM · High-Quality LigandSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMPR · Database UbiquitinationPR · Half-life DataPR · Small Molecule Binder

Safety liabilities

atrioventricular blockdecreased heart rateincreased urine excretionvomitingincreased cardiac contractilitycardiac arrhythmiaincreased urinary sodium excretionventricular fibrillation

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein.

Show remaining trials (24)

RECRUITING · via Digoxin · NCT06588699

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

Forefront confidence

Synthesis

Our own weighting of the evidence behind each disease association. Human genetics and clinical evidence count for most; literature co-mention counts for little, because two entities sharing an abstract is not evidence that one drives the other.

migraine, familial hemiplegic, 2Well supported
0.94
agreement 0.811.00
Genetic89%Animal model10%Literature1%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.83 · 3 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

familial hemiplegic migraineWell supported
0.92
agreement 0.781.00
Genetic96%Literature5%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.65 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

developmental and epileptic encephalopathy 98Well supported
0.90
agreement 0.781.00
Genetic88%Animal model11%Literature1%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.73 · 3 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

fetal akinesia, respiratory insufficiency, microcephaly, polymicrogyria, and dysmorphic faciesWell supported
0.85
agreement 0.720.97
Genetic87%Animal model13%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.72 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

alternating hemiplegia of childhood 1Well supported
0.84
agreement 0.720.96
Genetic87%Animal model12%Literature1%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.77 · 3 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

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 underlying per-type scores are shown above so the calculation can be checked.

What's happening now

3

Recent activity around this target, drawn from one canonical event stream. Every item is reached through a drug that targets this protein, so each event is news about that drug rather than about the protein directly.

  1. Trial status changed2026-07-20

    A Phase 1 Study to Evaluate the Effect of Multiple Doses of ABBV-722 on the Pharmacokinetics of Cocktail Probe Substrates of CYP3A and Select Transporters in Healthy Adult Subjects

    Status changed to Active, not recruiting · ClinicalTrials.gov · via Digoxin

  2. New publication2024-01-25
    Drug-Drug Interactions Between Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists and Oral Medications: A Systematic Review.

    Drug safety · 2024 · 37 citations · Europe PMC · via Digoxin

  3. New publication2002-12-01
    Dual-chamber pacing or ventricular backup pacing in patients with an implantable defibrillator: the Dual Chamber and VVI Implantable Defibrillator (DAVID) Trial.

    JAMA · 2002 · 1,354 citations · Europe PMC · via Digoxin

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.