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Protein / target

Voltage-dependent calcium channel gamma-5 subunit

Encoded byCACNG5Q9UF02Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
7
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
View by indication →
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Monoatomic ion transmembrane transporter

Strongest disease association

Epilepsy

Via encoding gene CACNG5 · Clinical evidence · score 0.61

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

Regulates the gating properties of AMPA-selective glutamate receptors (AMPARs).

View complete UniProt function annotation

Regulates the gating properties of AMPA-selective glutamate receptors (AMPARs). Modulates their gating properties by accelerating their rates of activation, deactivation and desensitization. Displays subunit-specific AMPA receptor regulation. Shows specificity for GRIA1, GRIA4 and the long isoform of GRIA2. Thought to stabilize the calcium channel in an inactivated (closed) state (By similarity)

Subcellular location

MembranePostsynaptic density membrane
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (11)

Gene Ontology

  • CAMPA glutamate receptor complex
  • Cglutamatergic synapse
  • Cpostsynaptic density
  • Cpostsynaptic density membrane
  • Fchannel regulator activity
  • Fmonoatomic ion transmembrane transporter activity
  • Fvoltage-gated calcium channel activity
  • Ppositive regulation of synaptic transmission, glutamatergic
  • Ppostsynaptic neurotransmitter receptor diffusion trapping
  • Pregulation of AMPA receptor activity
  • Ptransmission of nerve impulse

275 aa · 31 kDa

Biological roles

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

Excitatory neurotransmissionGOIon channel gatingGO
View supporting evidence

Excitatory neurotransmission

  • ·glutamatergic synapse
  • ·positive regulation of synaptic transmission, glutamatergic

Ion channel gating

  • ·monoatomic ion transmembrane transporter activity

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.

CACNG1GRIA2GRIA4CACNG4CNIH2GRIA3GRIA1CACNG3CACNB1CACNG8CACNG5

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.

Approved medicines with mapped indications

2 medicines · 8 areas

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.

Epilepsy2 medicines
Seizures2 medicines
Anxiety Disorders1 medicine
Fibromyalgia1 medicine
Neuralgia1 medicine
Neuralgia, Postherpetic1 medicine
Restless Legs Syndrome1 medicine
Spinal Cord Injuries1 medicine

7 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 2 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

2

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.

gabapentin
ApprovedModulator

Voltage-gated calcium channel modulator

Indicated for Epilepsy, Neuralgia, Postherpetic, Restless Legs Syndrome, Seizures

Acts on a complex — shared with CACNB4, CACNG4, CACNG3 +22 more · 1 of 26 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

pregabalin
ApprovedModulator

Voltage-gated calcium channel modulator

Indicated for Anxiety Disorders, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Neuralgia

Acts on a complex — shared with CACNB4, CACNG4, CACNG3 +22 more · 1 of 26 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

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 CACNG5

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene CACNG5 that 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.

Epilepsy
0.75Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.61

View evidence synthesis (1)
EpilepsyWell supported
0.75
agreement 0.590.91
Clinical98%Literature2%

Open Targets aggregate 0.61 · 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
Epilepsy0.61

Drug development

10 compounds recorded · 7 approved · 2 in clinical development · 1 earlier-stage

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 2 drugs that target this protein in Forefront's canonical graph (2 with a mapped approved indication, shown above): these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (10)
IMAGABALINPhase 3
PREGABALINApproval
PHLOROGLUCINOLApproval
SULOCTIDILApproval
TERODILINE HYDROCHLORIDEUnknown
GABAPENTINApproval
GABAPENTIN ENACARBILApproval
ATAGABALINPhase 2
BEPRIDILApproval
TERODILINEApproval

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 High-Quality Ligand support this modality.

AntibodiesEmerging

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

View underlying tractability evidence (5)
SM · Approved DrugSM · High-Quality LigandSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMAB · GO CC med conf

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

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. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

View all trials (26)

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · via gabapentin · NCT05921604

RECRUITING · via gabapentin · NCT04724252

COMPLETED · via gabapentin · NCT05076110

COMPLETED · via gabapentin · NCT05063656

COMPLETED · via gabapentin · NCT03472521

WITHDRAWN · via gabapentin · NCT03121963

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

12

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for 2 drugs that target 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. Label change2026-09-11

    Label change: GABAPENTIN (ANDA090705)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via gabapentin

  2. Label change2026-08-25

    Label change: GABAPENTIN (ANDA216492)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via gabapentin

  3. Label change2026-07-22

    Label change: GABAPENTIN (ANDA217995)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via gabapentin

  4. Regulatory approval2026-06-23

    Approval: GABAPENTIN (ANDA203611)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via gabapentin

  5. Regulatory approval2026-04-30

    Approval: PREGABALIN (ANDA219593)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via pregabalin

  6. Safety communication2022-04-19

    Drug Safety Update: Pregabalin (Lyrica): findings of safety study on risks during pregnancy

    mhra · safety · mhra · via pregabalin

  7. Safety communication2021-02-18

    Drug Safety Update: Pregabalin (Lyrica): reports of severe respiratory depression

    mhra · safety · mhra · via pregabalin

  8. Safety communication2017-10-26

    Drug Safety Update: Gabapentin (Neurontin): risk of severe respiratory depression

    mhra · safety · mhra · via gabapentin

  9. New publication2014-04-14
    Prevention and management of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in survivors of adult cancers: American Society of Clinical Oncology clinical practice guideline.

    Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2014 · 831 citations · Europe PMC · via gabapentin

  10. New publication2012-02-29
    A proof-of-concept randomized controlled study of gabapentin: effects on cannabis use, withdrawal and executive function deficits in cannabis-dependent adults.

    Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2012 · 132 citations · Europe PMC · via gabapentin

  11. New publication2011-12-09
    Cerebrospinal fluid neurotransmitter changes during the perioperative period in patients undergoing total knee replacement: a randomized trial.

    Anesthesia and analgesia · 2012 · 22 citations · Europe PMC · via pregabalin

  12. New publication2010-11-03
    An enhanced bunionectomy model as a potential tool for early decision-making in the development of new analgesics.

    Advances in therapy · 2010 · 20 citations · Europe PMC · via pregabalin

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.