Translocator protein

TSPO
Identifiers
Aliases	TSPO, BPBS, BZRP, DBI, IBP, MBR, PBR, PBS, PKBS, PTBR, mDRC, pk18, translocator protein
External IDs	OMIM: 109610; MGI: 88222; HomoloGene: 574; GeneCards: TSPO; OMA:TSPO - orthologs
Gene location (Human)
Chr.	Chromosome 22 (human)
End	43,163,242 bp
Gene location (Mouse)
Chr.	Chromosome 15 (mouse)
End	83,458,404 bp
RNA expression pattern
	Top expressed in
	mucosa of transverse colon; ; gingival epithelium; ; monocyte; ; granulocyte; ; skin of abdomen; ; mucosa of pharynx; ; skin of leg; ; minor salivary glands; ; nipple; ; left coronary artery;
	Top expressed in
	lactiferous gland; ; white adipose tissue; ; brown adipose tissue; ; adrenal gland; ; tunica adventitia of aorta; ; right kidney; ; granulocyte; ; choroid plexus of fourth ventricle; ; pyloric antrum; ; subcutaneous adipose tissue;
	More reference expression data
	n/a
Gene ontology
Molecular function	transmembrane transporter binding; androgen binding; benzodiazepine receptor activity; cholesterol binding; protein binding; cholesterol transfer activity;
Cellular component	mitochondrial outer membrane; mitochondrion; integral component of membrane; membrane; mitochondrial membranes; extracellular exosome; endoplasmic reticulum;
Biological process	positive regulation of necrotic cell death; response to vitamin B1; response to testosterone; negative regulation of glial cell proliferation; response to progesterone; negative regulation of ATP metabolic process; ageing; regulation of steroid biosynthetic process; contact inhibition; cellular hypotonic response; negative regulation of mitochondrion organization; negative regulation of autophagy of mitochondrion; ion transport; adrenal gland development; cellular response to zinc ion; negative regulation of protein ubiquitination; maintenance of protein location in mitochondrion; positive regulation of reactive oxygen species metabolic process; negative regulation of nitric oxide biosynthetic process; behavioral response to pain; response to manganese ion; establishment of protein localization to mitochondrion; positive regulation of mitochondrial depolarization; peripheral nervous system axon regeneration; response to pain; response to axon injury; positive regulation of apoptotic process; negative regulation of tumor necrosis factor production; chloride transport; cellular response to lipopolysaccharide; positive regulation of glial cell proliferation; glial cell migration; steroid biosynthetic process; positive regulation of calcium ion transport; signal transduction; steroid metabolic process; lipid transport; protein targeting to mitochondrion; anion transport; regulation of cholesterol transport; heme biosynthetic process; cell population proliferation; apoptotic process; C21-steroid hormone biosynthetic process; cholesterol transport; transport; regulation of cell population proliferation;
	Sources:Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs
	706
	12257
	ENSG00000100300
	ENSMUSG00000041736
	P30536
	P50637
	NM_000714; NM_001256530; NM_001256531; NM_007311
	NM_009775
NP_000705; NP_001243459; NP_001243460; NP_000705.2; NP_001243459.1;
	NP_001243460.1
	NP_033905
	Wikidata
View/Edit Human	View/Edit Mouse

Translocator protein (TSPO) is an 18 kDa protein mainly found on the outer mitochondrial membrane. It was first described as peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), a secondary binding site for diazepam, but subsequent research has found the receptor to be expressed throughout the body and brain. In humans, the translocator protein is encoded by the TSPO gene. It belongs to a family of tryptophan-rich sensory proteins. Regarding intramitochondrial cholesterol transport, TSPO has been proposed to interact with StAR (steroidogenic acute regulatory protein) to transport cholesterol into mitochondria, though evidence is mixed.