Synaptic vesicle membrane docking and fusion is mediated by SNAREs (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors) located on the vesicle membrane (v-SNAREs) and the target membrane (t-SNAREs). The assembled v-SNARE/t-SNARE complex consists of a bundle of four helices, one of which is supplied by v-SNARE and the other three by t-SNARE. For t-SNAREs on the plasma membrane, the protein syntaxin supplies one helix and the protein encoded by this gene contributes the other two. Therefore, this gene product is a presynaptic plasma membrane protein involved in the regulation of neurotransmitter release. Two alternative transcript variants encoding different protein isoforms have been described for this gene.?