GALP

Summary

GALP (galanin like peptide, HGNC:24840) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 19q13.43, encoding Galanin-like peptide (Q9UBC7). Hypothalamic neuropeptide which binds to the G-protein-coupled galanin receptors (GALR1, GALR2 and GALR3).

This gene encodes a member of the galanin family of neuropeptides. The encoded protein binds galanin receptors 1, 2 and 3 with the highest affinity for galanin receptor 3 and has been implicated in biological processes involving the central nervous system including hypothalamic regulation of metabolism and reproduction. A peptide encoded by a splice variant of this gene, termed alarin, has vasoactive properties, displays antimicrobial activity against E. coli, and may serve as a marker for neuroblastic tumors.

Source: NCBI Gene 85569 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

• GWAS associations: 1
• Clinical variants (ClinVar): 31 total
• MANE Select transcript: NM_033106

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

Field	Value
HGNC ID	HGNC:24840
Approved symbol	GALP
Name	galanin like peptide
Location	19q13.43
Locus type	gene with protein product
Status	Approved
Aliases	GAL
Ensembl gene	ENSG00000197487
Ensembl biotype	protein_coding
OMIM	611178
Entrez	85569

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 5 — 3 protein_coding, 2 nonsense_mediated_decay

ENST00000357330, ENST00000440823, ENST00000590002, ENST00000851002, ENST00000870636

RefSeq mRNA: 2 — MANE Select: NM_033106 NM_001145546, NM_033106

CCDS: CCDS12940, CCDS46202

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000357330 — 6 exons

Exon	Start	End
ENSE00001406156	56180586	56180634
ENSE00001408920	56177070	56177195
ENSE00001427865	56176008	56176062
ENSE00003525805	56182172	56182252
ENSE00003550971	56185215	56185775
ENSE00003638758	56183135	56183212

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth broad, 48 present calls, max score 55.49.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth tissue_specific, TPM avg 0.2597 / max 16.3392, expressed in 94 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (1 alternative TSS)

Promoter ID	TPM avg	Samples expressed
177703	0.2597	94

Top tissues by expression

236 total, by Bgee expression score (0-100, higher = more expressed):

Tissue	Anatomy ID	Expression score	Quality
lower lobe of lung	UBERON:0008949	55.49	silver quality
mucosa of paranasal sinus	UBERON:0005030	54.77	gold quality
epithelium of nasopharynx	UBERON:0001951	54.57	gold quality
gingival epithelium	UBERON:0001949	53.59	gold quality
right lobe of liver	UBERON:0001114	49.85	gold quality
gingiva	UBERON:0001828	49.60	gold quality
vastus lateralis	UBERON:0001379	46.18	gold quality
quadriceps femoris	UBERON:0001377	46.04	gold quality
cortical plate	UBERON:0005343	45.07	gold quality
liver	UBERON:0002107	44.30	gold quality
skeletal muscle tissue of rectus abdominis	UBERON:0004511	43.37	gold quality
subthalamic nucleus	UBERON:0001906	43.27	gold quality
sural nerve	UBERON:0015488	42.78	gold quality
germinal epithelium of ovary	UBERON:0001304	42.61	gold quality
secondary oocyte	CL:0000655	42.57	gold quality
superior vestibular nucleus	UBERON:0007227	41.79	gold quality
inferior vagus X ganglion	UBERON:0005363	41.52	gold quality
granulocyte	CL:0000094	41.49	silver quality
dorsal plus ventral thalamus	UBERON:0001897	41.34	gold quality
superficial temporal artery	UBERON:0001614	41.33	gold quality
palpebral conjunctiva	UBERON:0001812	41.10	gold quality
tongue	UBERON:0001723	41.07	gold quality
amniotic fluid	UBERON:0000173	40.69	gold quality
jejunal mucosa	UBERON:0000399	40.59	gold quality
biceps brachii	UBERON:0001507	40.57	gold quality
medial globus pallidus	UBERON:0002477	40.47	gold quality
myocardium	UBERON:0002349	40.45	gold quality
medulla oblongata	UBERON:0001896	40.41	gold quality
mammary duct	UBERON:0001765	40.40	gold quality
ganglionic eminence	UBERON:0004023	40.38	gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 1 experiment(s), a significant marker in 0.

Experiment	Marker?	Max mean expression
E-ANND-3	no	1.13

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

37 targeting GALP, top 30 by miRDB confidence (max_score; target_count = how many genes the miRNA targets in total — lower means more specific):

miRNA	Max score	Avg score	miRNA target_count
HSA-MIR-150-5P	99.99	66.69	1976
HSA-MIR-607	99.97	73.62	5593
HSA-MIR-6793-5P	99.97	65.95	758
HSA-MIR-4487	99.96	64.58	1252
HSA-MIR-3671	99.90	73.04	3897
HSA-MIR-95-5P	99.89	72.17	3973
HSA-MIR-9902	99.89	69.15	2250
HSA-MIR-765	99.84	68.24	2442
HSA-MIR-11181-3P	99.75	66.38	2205
HSA-MIR-494-3P	99.70	71.45	2795
HSA-MIR-670-5P	99.67	69.94	1565
HSA-MIR-4516	99.61	67.78	3390
HSA-MIR-105-5P	99.54	69.24	2060
HSA-MIR-7853-5P	99.54	69.30	2055
HSA-MIR-508-5P	99.41	64.25	1248
HSA-MIR-10522-5P	99.26	68.50	2087
HSA-MIR-4507	99.14	65.27	515
HSA-MIR-3940-5P	99.14	65.26	493
HSA-MIR-4434	99.10	67.01	1984
HSA-MIR-5703	99.10	67.09	2053
HSA-MIR-1843	98.97	66.07	838
HSA-MIR-4802-5P	98.97	66.26	833
HSA-MIR-7851-3P	98.72	64.88	980
HSA-MIR-218-1-3P	98.63	67.97	832
HSA-MIR-3135B	98.61	65.33	1470
HSA-MIR-5187-5P	98.54	67.94	952
HSA-MIR-499B-5P	98.35	68.39	988
HSA-MIR-561-5P	98.25	68.13	1365
HSA-MIR-6742-3P	97.95	64.50	1490
HSA-MIR-6728-5P	97.79	66.33	891

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 11)

• describes cloning of the full-length human GALP (PMID:10601261)
• describes the gene structure of human GALP. (PMID:11861493)
• This review presents considerable evidence that has accumulated implicating both galanin and GALP as playing important roles in regulating food and water intake behavior and related neuroendocrine functions. (PMID:16787232)
• reports immunostaining of human GALP in the dermal microvasculature. (PMID:17535903)
• One isoform (alarin) of this gene but not the other (galanin-like peptide) displays antimicrobial activity against E. coli. (PMID:23537644)
• results indicated that obese individuals have higher plasma GAL and GALP concentrations and both peptide concentrations were positively correlative to triglyceride concentrations in obese human (PMID:27474259)
• The present study provides the evidence that circulating Alarin levels are associated with metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. (PMID:30522093)
• alarin in different human intestinal epithelial cell types (PMID:30612153)
• Alarin: A new predictive marker in infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome: A case-control study. (PMID:35174578)
• Plasma and aqueous levels of alarin and adipsin in patients with and without diabetic retinopathy. (PMID:35436912)
• Galanin-like peptide and its correlation with androgen levels in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. (PMID:37155301)

Cross-species orthologs

2 orthologs

Organism	Symbol	Gene ID
mus_musculus	Galp	ENSMUSG00000034660
rattus_norvegicus	Galp	ENSRNOG00000022129

Protein

Protein identifiers

Galanin-like peptide — Q9UBC7 (reviewed: Q9UBC7)

All UniProt accessions (1): Q9UBC7

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Hypothalamic neuropeptide which binds to the G-protein-coupled galanin receptors (GALR1, GALR2 and GALR3). Involved in a large number of putative physiological functions in CNS homeostatic processes, including the regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion. Exhibits potent and dose-dependent vasoconstrictor and anti-edema activity in the cutaneous microvasculature, a physiologic effects which does not appear to be mediated via GALR1 or GALR2. Exhibits antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacterias, inducing bacterial membrane blebbing.

Subcellular location. Secreted.

Tissue specificity. Isoform 2 is found in ganglia of ganglioneuroma and ganglioneuroblastoma, as well as in differentiated tumor cells of neuroblastoma tissues. Not found in undifferentiated neuroblasts. Isoform 2 is found in the skin, in pericytes covering microvascular arterioles and venules on their abluminal surfaces. In larger vessels, isoform 2 is expressed in layers of smooth muscle cells. Isoform 2 is not detected in endothelial cells.

Miscellaneous. Cleavage of the signal peptide generates a peptide of 25 amino acids, termed alarin because of the N-terminal alanine and the C-terminal serine. Involved in ganglionic differentiation in neuroblastic tumor tissues. Vasoactive peptide.

Similarity. Belongs to the galanin family.

Isoforms (2)

UniProt ID	Names	Canonical?
Q9UBC7-1	1	yes
Q9UBC7-2	2, Alarin, del/E3

RefSeq proteins (2): NP_001139018, NP_149097* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

ID	Name	Type
IPR008174	Galanin	Domain
IPR039244	GALP	Family

Pfam: PF01296

UniProt features (5 total): signal peptide 1, chain 1, propeptide 1, splice variant 1, sequence variant 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

0 structures.

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

Model	pLDDT	Fraction very-high
AF-Q9UBC7-F1	66.71	0.07

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

0 pathways

MSigDB gene sets: 292 (showing top): GSE18804_BRAIN_VS_COLON_TUMORAL_MACROPHAGE_DN, GSE18804_SPLEEN_MACROPHAGE_VS_TUMORAL_MACROPHAGE_UP, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_CELL_ACTIVATION, GOBP_RESPONSE_TO_NITROGEN_COMPOUND, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_LEUKOCYTE_PROLIFERATION, GOBP_RESPONSE_TO_ETHANOL, GOBP_EPITHELIUM_DEVELOPMENT, GOBP_ANTIMICROBIAL_HUMORAL_RESPONSE, GOBP_BEHAVIOR, GOBP_RESPONSE_TO_IMMOBILIZATION_STRESS, GOBP_RESPONSE_TO_PEPTIDE, GOCC_SECRETORY_GRANULE, GOBP_NEGATIVE_REGULATION_OF_LEUKOCYTE_PROLIFERATION, GOBP_GLUCOCORTICOID_METABOLIC_PROCESS, GOBP_ADULT_BEHAVIOR

GO Biological Process (9): neuropeptide signaling pathway (GO:0007218), regulation of appetite (GO:0032098), response to insulin (GO:0032868), modulation of process of another organism (GO:0035821), behavioral response to starvation (GO:0042595), defense response to bacterium (GO:0042742), defense response to Gram-negative bacterium (GO:0050829), antimicrobial humoral immune response mediated by antimicrobial peptide (GO:0061844), response to hormone (GO:0009725)

GO Molecular Function (2): hormone activity (GO:0005179), protein binding (GO:0005515)

GO Cellular Component (1): extracellular region (GO:0005576)

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

Category	Terms
G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway	1
response to nutrient levels	1
regulation of biological quality	1
response to peptide hormone	1
biological process involved in interspecies interaction between organisms	1
response to starvation	1
defense response	1
response to bacterium	1
defense response to bacterium	1
antimicrobial humoral response	1
response to endogenous stimulus	1
response to chemical	1
receptor ligand activity	1
binding	1
cellular anatomical structure	1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

454 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein A	Protein B	Partner UniProt	Score
GALP	GALR2	O43603	970
GALP	GALR1	P47211	968
GALP	ARAF	P07557	965
GALP	GAL	P22466	943
GALP	PXYLP1	Q8TE99	936
GALP	GALR3	O60755	815
GALP	SPX	Q9BT56	574
GALP	NPY	P01303	542
GALP	PACRG	Q96M98	507
GALP	HCRT	O43612	489
GALP	TNK1	Q13470	487
GALP	PGBD1	Q96JS3	484
GALP	AGRP	O00253	450
GALP	LGALS13	Q9UHV8	442
GALP	POMC	P01189	435

IntAct

11 interactions, top by confidence:

A	B	Type	Score
SGTA	GALP	psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)	0.560
GALP	UBQLN2	psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)	0.560
GALP	IDE	psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)	0.350
GALP	SGTA	psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)	0.000
GALP	UBQLN2	psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)	0.000
UBQLN2	GALP	psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)	0.000

BioGRID (6): GALP (Two-hybrid), GALP (Two-hybrid), B4GALT6 (Affinity Capture-MS), ITIH2 (Affinity Capture-MS), IDE (Affinity Capture-MS), HSPA1A (Cross-Linking-MS (XL-MS))

ESM2 similar proteins: A0A1B0GUA5, A0A286YF18, A0A3G1VU77, A0A3G1VU78, A0JNN8, A5PK62, C9JXX5, D2HJ50, P01172, P07480, P0C171, P0C172, P0DJK0, P0DJK1, P11242, P18509, P20800, P22389, P22466, P23943, P52511, P82271, Q08648, Q1RMJ9, Q5NRP8, Q5NRQ0, Q6VUC0, Q6VUP9, Q70KG2, Q765Z5, Q867A9, Q867D0, Q8CF31, Q8K1M5, Q8MJV4, Q8MJW9, Q8NG41, Q8SQD7, Q91W27, Q969E3

Diamond homologs: E7EZ53, P07480, P10683, P11242, P22466, P30802, P31234, P33710, P47212, P47213, P47214, P47215, P47216, Q9UBC7, Q9W6M9, Q810H5, Q8SQD7, Q9QXQ6, Q9TT95

SIGNOR signaling

1 interactions.

A	Effect	B	Mechanism
GALP	up-regulates	GALR2	binding

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

31 variants total. Per-class counts are floors (≥ shown; pagination cap):

Classification	Count (floor)
Pathogenic	0
Likely pathogenic	0
Uncertain significance	23
Likely benign	5
Benign	0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

2007 predictions. Top by Δscore:

Variant	Effect	Δscore
11:68685592:A:G	acceptor_gain	1.0000
11:68685649:G:GG	donor_gain	1.0000
11:68688008:A:AG	acceptor_gain	1.0000
11:68688009:A:G	acceptor_gain	1.0000
11:68688012:A:AG	acceptor_gain	1.0000
11:68688013:G:GA	acceptor_loss	1.0000
11:68688013:G:GG	acceptor_gain	1.0000
11:68688097:CCAGG:C	donor_loss	1.0000
11:68688098:CAGG:C	donor_loss	1.0000
11:68688099:AGGT:A	donor_loss	1.0000
11:68688101:G:T	donor_loss	1.0000
11:68688102:T:A	donor_loss	1.0000
11:68690911:TTGCA:T	acceptor_loss	1.0000
11:68690914:CAGAG:C	acceptor_loss	1.0000
11:68690915:A:AC	acceptor_loss	1.0000
11:68690915:A:AG	acceptor_gain	1.0000
11:68690916:G:GA	acceptor_loss	1.0000
11:68690916:G:GG	acceptor_gain	1.0000
11:68690916:GA:G	acceptor_gain	1.0000
19:56177069:GCGT:G	acceptor_gain	1.0000
19:56183133:A:AG	acceptor_gain	1.0000
19:56183133:AGAC:A	acceptor_gain	1.0000
19:56183133:AGACG:A	acceptor_gain	1.0000
19:56183134:G:GG	acceptor_gain	1.0000
19:56183134:GAC:G	acceptor_gain	1.0000
19:56183134:GACG:G	acceptor_gain	1.0000
19:56183134:GACGG:G	acceptor_gain	1.0000
19:56183264:G:GT	donor_gain	1.0000
11:68685001:GCCG:G	donor_gain	0.9900
11:68685002:CCGG:C	donor_loss	0.9900

AlphaMissense

740 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

Variant	Protein change	am_pathogenicity
19:56180610:A:C	S38R	0.980
19:56180612:T:A	S38R	0.980
19:56180612:T:G	S38R	0.980
19:56180600:G:C	W34C	0.971
19:56180600:G:T	W34C	0.971
19:56180598:T:A	W34R	0.961
19:56180598:T:C	W34R	0.961
19:56180609:T:A	N37K	0.952
19:56180609:T:G	N37K	0.952
19:56182242:G:C	W69C	0.922
19:56182242:G:T	W69C	0.922
19:56180608:A:T	N37I	0.920
19:56180605:T:A	L36H	0.919
19:56180628:G:C	G44R	0.914
19:56180611:G:A	S38N	0.908
19:56180617:G:A	G40D	0.905
19:56182240:T:A	W69R	0.905
19:56182240:T:C	W69R	0.905
19:56180614:C:A	A39D	0.902
19:56180619:T:C	Y41H	0.895
19:56180623:T:C	L42P	0.891
19:56180616:G:C	G40R	0.878
19:56180611:G:T	S38I	0.876
19:56180602:C:T	T35I	0.872
19:56180620:A:C	Y41S	0.863
19:56180619:T:G	Y41D	0.858
19:56180628:G:T	G44C	0.854
19:56180599:G:C	W34S	0.853
19:56180623:T:A	L42H	0.853
19:56180629:G:T	G44V	0.850

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000549859 (19:56177741 C>T), RS1000601266 (19:56182613 G>A), RS1000748856 (19:56183962 AT>A,ATT,ATTT,ATTTTT), RS1001097711 (19:56184242 C>A), RS1001676698 (19:56174433 G>T), RS1001725838 (19:56178073 G>A), RS1001813764 (19:56182885 G>A,T), RS1001866811 (19:56178965 A>G), RS1002071907 (19:56178334 G>A), RS1002472322 (19:56175632 G>A,T), RS1002477315 (19:56183685 C>T), RS1002524503 (19:56175463 T>C), RS1002576556 (19:56176724 TG>T,TGG), RS1003925441 (19:56185940 T>A), RS1004518296 (19:56179695 G>A)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:611178 | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (0):

Orphanet (0):

HPO phenotypes

0 total (0 of 0 shown, HPO-id order):

GWAS associations

1 associations (top):

Study	Trait	p-value
GCST003253_2	Microalbuminuria	5.000000e-06

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

PharmGKB: 1 entry (VIP=true, CPIC=false)

PharmGKB clinical annotations

3 annotations.

Variant	Type	Level	Drugs	Phenotypes
rs694066	Toxicity	3	heroin	Heroin Dependence
rs948854	Efficacy	3	antidepressants;benzodiazepine derivatives;mirtazapine;Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors	Major Depressive Disorder
rs948854	Other	3	opioids	Opioid-Related Disorders

PharmGKB variants

2 variants.

Variant	Genes	Level	Score	#Clin annots	Drugs
rs948854	GAL	3	3.00	2	antidepressants;benzodiazepine derivatives;mirtazapine;Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors;opioids
rs694066	GAL	3	3.50	1	heroin

CTD chemical–gene interactions

17 total (human), top 17 by PubMed support.

Chemical	Actions (top 5)	PubMed papers
Valproic Acid	affects cotreatment, increases expression, affects expression, decreases expression	4
trichostatin A	affects cotreatment, decreases expression	3
methylmercuric chloride	decreases expression	2
entinostat	decreases expression, increases expression, affects cotreatment	2
Phenylmercuric Acetate	affects cotreatment, decreases expression	2
terbufos	increases methylation	1
mercuric bromide	decreases expression	1
4-(5-benzo(1,3)dioxol-5-yl-4-pyridin-2-yl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)benzamide	affects cotreatment, decreases expression	1
dorsomorphin	affects cotreatment, decreases expression	1
Benzo(a)pyrene	affects methylation, decreases methylation	1
Diethylhexyl Phthalate	decreases expression	1
Fonofos	increases methylation	1
Hydralazine	affects cotreatment, increases expression	1
Parathion	increases methylation	1
Silicon Dioxide	increases expression	1
Tretinoin	increases expression	1
p-Chloromercuribenzoic Acid	decreases expression	1

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

0 trials via MONDO — disease-level, not drug-specific.