SPX

gene
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Also known as MGC10946NPQspexinSPX1

Summary

SPX (spexin hormone, HGNC:28139) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 12p12.1, encoding Spexin (Q9BT56). Plays a role as a central modulator of cardiovascular and renal function and nociception.

The protein encoded by this gene is a hormone involved in modulation of cardiovascular and renal function. It has also been shown in rats to cause weight loss. Several transcript variants have been found for this gene.

Source: NCBI Gene 80763 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • GWAS associations: 1
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 25 total
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_030572

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:28139
Approved symbolSPX
Namespexin hormone
Location12p12.1
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
AliasesMGC10946, NPQ, spexin, SPX1
Ensembl geneENSG00000134548
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM619246
Entrez80763

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 8 — 5 protein_coding_CDS_not_defined, 2 protein_coding, 1 nonsense_mediated_decay

ENST00000256969, ENST00000535033, ENST00000535139, ENST00000537527, ENST00000543800, ENST00000544637, ENST00000546199, ENST00000649016

RefSeq mRNA: 1 — MANE Select: NM_030572 NM_030572

CCDS: CCDS31757

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000256969 — 6 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE000009155572152688621526966
ENSE000009155582152713521527192
ENSE000012310002152629621526478
ENSE000035235322153113721532947
ENSE000036313422152772721527789
ENSE000036482952152900121529084

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 208 present calls, max score 94.11.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth broad, TPM avg 4.2986 / max 258.1616, expressed in 590 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (16 alternative TSS)

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
1246810.7334181
1246710.7317148
1246800.6193149
1246860.4960143
1246730.366234
1246700.2549106
1246820.253392
1246780.220277
1246790.174175
1246850.114965

Top tissues by expression

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

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
body of pancreasUBERON:000115094.11gold quality
medial globus pallidusUBERON:000247793.58gold quality
globus pallidusUBERON:000187592.82gold quality
amygdalaUBERON:000187691.95gold quality
lateral globus pallidusUBERON:000247691.82gold quality
substantia nigra pars reticulataUBERON:000196690.77gold quality
C1 segment of cervical spinal cordUBERON:000646990.59gold quality
caudate nucleusUBERON:000187390.24gold quality
substantia nigraUBERON:000203890.17gold quality
spinal cordUBERON:000224089.96gold quality
subthalamic nucleusUBERON:000190689.82gold quality
midbrainUBERON:000189189.72gold quality
primordial germ cell in gonadCL:0000670 ∩ UBERON:000099189.68gold quality
putamenUBERON:000187489.52gold quality
hypothalamusUBERON:000189888.96gold quality
substantia nigra pars compactaUBERON:000196588.91gold quality
nucleus accumbensUBERON:000188288.32gold quality
superior vestibular nucleusUBERON:000722788.31gold quality
anterior cingulate cortexUBERON:000983587.60gold quality
cingulate cortexUBERON:000302787.51gold quality
Ammon’s hornUBERON:000195487.50gold quality
monocyteCL:000057687.00gold quality
ventral tegmental areaUBERON:000269186.88gold quality
adult mammalian kidneyUBERON:000008286.71gold quality
mononuclear cellCL:000084286.66gold quality
corpus callosumUBERON:000233686.33gold quality
right frontal lobeUBERON:000281086.29gold quality
temporal lobeUBERON:000187186.19gold quality
metanephros cortexUBERON:001053385.72gold quality
leukocyteCL:000073885.15gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

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

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-ANND-3yes10.63

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

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

miRNAMax scoreAvg scoremiRNA target_count
HSA-MIR-6867-5P100.0082.213464
HSA-MIR-5692A100.0074.406850
HSA-MIR-5011-5P100.0083.465820
HSA-MIR-3646100.0073.565283
HSA-MIR-3064-3P100.0070.091254
HSA-MIR-4262100.0073.263931
HSA-MIR-10401-5P99.9965.79948
HSA-MIR-4789-3P99.9970.752484
HSA-MIR-6759-5P99.9966.54785
HSA-MIR-3617-3P99.9867.86918
HSA-MIR-314899.9775.066478
HSA-MIR-60799.9773.625593
HSA-MIR-570-3P99.9672.414910
HSA-MIR-493-5P99.9672.472382
HSA-LET-7C-3P99.9573.422862
HSA-MIR-128-3P99.9571.172484
HSA-MIR-216A-3P99.9571.192505
HSA-MIR-651-3P99.9473.485177
HSA-MIR-311999.9271.342390
HSA-MIR-374A-5P99.9071.342923
HSA-MIR-374B-5P99.9069.982734
HSA-MIR-95-5P99.8972.173973
HSA-MIR-3681-3P99.8870.462254
HSA-MIR-3140-3P99.8868.472069
HSA-MIR-469899.8471.414303
HSA-MIR-548AZ-5P99.8369.943230
HSA-MIR-548T-5P99.8369.913220
HSA-MIR-4799-5P99.8270.602663
HSA-MIR-323A-3P99.7970.301739
HSA-MIR-4766-5P99.7569.232662

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 23)

  • Taken together, although C12ORF39 is not a secreted small peptide, it can also be secreted to play a role in the biological functions of the placenta. (PMID:19193193)
  • newly identified peptides derived from the NPQ/spexin precursor contribute to CNS-mediated control of arterial blood pressure and salt and water balance and modulate nociceptive responses (PMID:22038051)
  • Data from ligand-receptor interaction studies suggest that human spexin-1 and zebrafish spexin-2 activate galanin receptors GALR2/GALR3 (but not GALR1); thus spexins appear to be natural ligands for human/Xenopus/zebrafish GALR2/GALR3. (PMID:24517231)
  • Circulating spexin levels are low in T2DM patients and negatively related to blood glucose and lipids suggesting that the peptide may play a role in glucose and lipid metabolism in T2DM. (PMID:26211893)
  • The results suggest that C12orf39, CSTA, and CALCB are novel ATF4 target genes, and that C12orf39 promoter activity is activated by ATF4 through amino acid response element. (PMID:26967115)
  • Lower circulating levels of Spexin in obese children compared with their normal-weight counterparts and the ability to discriminate obese and normal-weight groups based on Spexin concentration enabled us to suggest a potential role for this novel peptide in childhood obesity. (PMID:27218269)
  • Data suggest that, in response to oral glucose (as in oral glucose tolerance test), adolescent serum spexin levels are not significantly correlated with body composition, fitness, or blood biochemical measurements; these studies were conducted in adolescents with either healthy normal weight, obesity, type 2 diabetes, or obesity plus type 2 diabetes. (PMID:28626942)
  • Serum levels of both spexin and kisspetin show negative correlation with obesity and insulin resistance in women. (PMID:29137471)
  • SPX levels are positively influenced by glucose intolerance in pregnant women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), while they decrease in control women without GDM. (PMID:30031679)
  • Lower circulating levels of SPX in adults are modestly associated with components of metabolic syndrome and are sex-specific. (PMID:30254709)
  • SPX is a novel regulator of lipid metabolism in murine 3T3-L1 and human adipocytes. (PMID:30305242)
  • serum SPX levels significantly decreased in obese children and negatively correlated with insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell function indicators (PMID:30673665)
  • Spexin levels were significantly higher in women with gestational diabetes and closely related to HOMA-IR in the third trimester pregnancy. (PMID:31109216)
  • Maternal and umbilical cord blood subfatin and spexin levels in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus. (PMID:32068104)
  • Different spexin level in obese vs normal weight children and its relationship with obesity related risk factors. (PMID:32139252)
  • Spexin-expressing neurons in the magnocellular nuclei of the human hypothalamus. (PMID:33161073)
  • The effect of umbilical cord blood spexin, free 25(OH) vitamin D3 and adipocytokine levels on intrauterine growth and anthropometric measurements in newborns. (PMID:34010726)
  • The Association of Serum Circulating Neuropeptide Q and Chemerin Levels with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors among Patients with Metabolic Syndrome. (PMID:34944507)
  • Serum spexin levels are not associated with size at birth but are associated with metabolic syndrome components in prepubertal children born at term. (PMID:35334196)
  • The role of spexin in energy metabolism. (PMID:36914115)
  • Spexin role in human granulosa cells physiology and PCOS: expression and negative impact on steroidogenesis and proliferationdagger. (PMID:37658762)
  • Normalization of Spexin Levels in Patients with Obesity Submitted to Bariatric Surgery. (PMID:38072893)
  • Serum Spexin Level Is Negatively Associated With Peripheral Neuropathy and Sensory Pain in Type 2 Diabetes. (PMID:38919263)

Cross-species orthologs

3 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
danio_reriospxENSDARG00000056859
mus_musculusSpxENSMUSG00000071112
rattus_norvegicusSpxENSRNOG00000053700

Protein

Protein identifiers

SpexinQ9BT56 (reviewed: Q9BT56)

Alternative names: NPQ, Neuropeptide Q, Spexin hormone

All UniProt accessions (3): A0A3B3ISF3, Q9BT56, F5GXE5

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Plays a role as a central modulator of cardiovascular and renal function and nociception. Also plays a role in energy metabolism and storage. Inhibits adrenocortical cell proliferation with minor stimulation on corticosteroid release. Acts as a ligand for galanin receptors GALR2 and GALR3. Intracerebroventricular administration of the peptide induces an increase in arterial blood pressure, a decrease in both heart rate and renal excretion and delayed natriuresis. Intraventricular administration of the peptide induces antinociceptive activity. Also induces contraction of muscarinic-like stomach smooth muscles. Intraperitoneal administration of the peptide induces a reduction in food consumption and body weight. Inhibits long chain fatty acid uptake into adipocytes. Intracerebroventricular administration of the peptide induces a decrease in heart rate, but no change in arterial pressure, and an increase in urine flow rate. Intraventricular administration of the peptide induces antinociceptive activity.

Subcellular location. Secreted. Extracellular space. Cytoplasmic vesicle. Secretory vesicle.

Tissue specificity. Expressed in the type I glomic cells within the carotid body (at protein level). Expressed predominantly in pancreas, testis, kidney, brain and placenta. Expressed in submucosal layer of esophagus and stomach fundus.

Induction. Down-regulated in omental and subcutaneous fat of obese subjects.

Similarity. Belongs to the spexin family.

RefSeq proteins (1): NP_085049* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR028126SpexinFamily

Pfam: PF15171

UniProt features (14 total): site 3, propeptide 3, peptide 2, signal peptide 1, chain 1, modified residue 1, helix 1, region of interest 1, compositionally biased region 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

1 structures.

PDBMethodResolution (Å)
7XJLELECTRON MICROSCOPY3.5

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-Q9BT56-F165.260.07

Antibody-complex structures (SAbDab): 17XJL

Functional residue map

Curated UniProt residues grouped by drug-discovery relevance — catalytic, ligand-binding, modification, and mutation-validated positions. Source: UniProtKB sequence features.

Catalytic / active sites (3): 52–53 (cleavage; by prohormone convertase 2); 72–73 (cleavage; by prohormone convertase 2); 35–36 (cleavage; by prohormone convertase 2)

Post-translational modifications (1): 49

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

0 pathways

MSigDB gene sets: 136 (showing top): GOBP_EXCRETION, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_BLOOD_PRESSURE, GOBP_CIRCULATORY_SYSTEM_PROCESS, GOCC_SECRETORY_GRANULE, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_SYSTEMIC_ARTERIAL_BLOOD_PRESSURE, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_SMOOTH_MUSCLE_CONTRACTION, GOBP_RESPONSE_TO_FOOD, GOBP_ORGANIC_ACID_TRANSPORT, GOBP_POSITIVE_REGULATION_OF_MUSCLE_CONTRACTION, GOBP_SENSORY_PERCEPTION_OF_PAIN, GOBP_NEGATIVE_REGULATION_OF_MULTICELLULAR_ORGANISMAL_PROCESS, GOBP_NEGATIVE_REGULATION_OF_TRANSPORT, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_MUSCLE_CONTRACTION, GOBP_NEGATIVE_REGULATION_OF_BLOOD_CIRCULATION, GOBP_MUSCLE_CONTRACTION

GO Biological Process (8): positive regulation of systemic arterial blood pressure (GO:0003084), negative regulation of heart rate (GO:0010459), negative regulation of appetite (GO:0032099), negative regulation of renal sodium excretion (GO:0035814), long-chain fatty acid import into cell (GO:0044539), regulation of sensory perception of pain (GO:0051930), positive regulation of gastro-intestinal system smooth muscle contraction (GO:1904306), signal transduction (GO:0007165)

GO Molecular Function (3): neuropeptide hormone activity (GO:0005184), hormone activity (GO:0005179), protein binding (GO:0005515)

GO Cellular Component (6): obsolete extracellular space (GO:0005615), cytoplasm (GO:0005737), transport vesicle (GO:0030133), dense core granule (GO:0031045), extracellular region (GO:0005576), cytoplasmic vesicle (GO:0031410)

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

CategoryTerms
cellular anatomical structure2
regulation of systemic arterial blood pressure1
positive regulation of blood pressure1
regulation of heart rate1
negative regulation of heart contraction1
negative regulation of response to food1
regulation of appetite1
renal sodium excretion1
regulation of renal sodium excretion1
negative regulation of secretion1
negative regulation of multicellular organismal process1
long-chain fatty acid transport1
import into cell1
lipid import into cell1
sensory perception of pain1
regulation of sensory perception1
gastro-intestinal system smooth muscle contraction1
positive regulation of smooth muscle contraction1
regulation of gastro-intestinal system smooth muscle contraction1
cell communication1
cellular process1
signaling1
regulation of cellular process1
cellular response to stimulus1
hormone activity1
neuropeptide activity1
receptor ligand activity1
binding1
intracellular anatomical structure1
endomembrane system1
cytoplasmic vesicle1
secretory granule1
cytoplasm1
intracellular vesicle1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

490 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
SPXGALR2O43603926
SPXGALR3O60755879
SPXCLPXO76031774
SPXGALP22466750
SPXCLPPQ16740723
SPXLGALS2P05162698
SPXGALR1P47211637
SPXNPYP01303608
SPXQRFPP83859583
SPXKISS1Q15726574
SPXGALPQ9UBC7574
SPXECRG4Q9H1Z8572
SPXLGALS3P17931569
SPXINSP01308498
SPXPRLHP81277497

IntAct

5 interactions, top by confidence:

ABTypeScore
MRM1SPXpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
SPXERI3psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
SPXMRM1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000

BioGRID (32): MRM1 (Two-hybrid), CERCAM (Affinity Capture-MS), ATG7 (Affinity Capture-MS), NCOA1 (Affinity Capture-MS), ERI3 (Affinity Capture-MS), HSPA5 (Affinity Capture-MS), CLN5 (Affinity Capture-MS), LRFN1 (Affinity Capture-MS), PCYOX1L (Affinity Capture-MS), CES3 (Affinity Capture-MS), IBA57 (Affinity Capture-MS), ADAM9 (Affinity Capture-MS), NELFA (Affinity Capture-MS), CAMKMT (Affinity Capture-MS), PPP2R5E (Affinity Capture-MS)

ESM2 similar proteins: A0A1L2F565, B3IWF7, B3IWF9, D3Z752, E2E4E4, F1QQI2, I7C2V3, M0R8L2, O46540, O62647, O73812, O93448, P01146, P01257, P01258, P07501, P0DQY8, P10093, P12272, P12969, P15743, P22858, P27104, P47851, P51918, P52211, P58073, P63152, P63292, P70160, P81564, P81872, Q0VBW8, Q0VC44, Q13519, Q5H8A3, Q60549, Q64387, Q75V94, Q75V95

Diamond homologs: A0A077DF94, D3Z752, F1QQI2, I7C2V3, M0R8L2, Q0VC44, Q9BT56

SIGNOR signaling

2 interactions.

AEffectBMechanism
SPX“up-regulates activity”GALR2binding
SPX“up-regulates activity”GALR3binding

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

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

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic0
Uncertain significance17
Likely benign3
Benign0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

1055 predictions. Top by Δscore:

VariantEffectΔscore
12:21526476:AAGG:Adonor_loss1.0000
12:21526478:GGT:Gdonor_loss1.0000
12:21527125:C:CAacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21527126:G:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21527785:GCCGG:Gdonor_gain1.0000
12:21527788:GG:Gdonor_gain1.0000
12:21527789:GG:Gdonor_gain1.0000
12:21527790:G:GGdonor_gain1.0000
12:21527790:GT:Gdonor_loss1.0000
12:21527791:T:Adonor_loss1.0000
12:21528999:A:AGacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21529000:G:GGacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21529000:GA:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21529000:GAA:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21529000:GAAA:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21529080:AGAAG:Adonor_loss1.0000
12:21529081:GAAG:Gdonor_gain1.0000
12:21529081:GAAGG:Gdonor_loss1.0000
12:21529082:AAG:Adonor_loss1.0000
12:21529083:AG:Adonor_loss1.0000
12:21529084:GGTAC:Gdonor_loss1.0000
12:21529086:T:Gdonor_loss1.0000
12:21531135:A:AGacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21531136:G:GGacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21539334:TAATA:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21539335:AATA:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21539336:ATA:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21539337:TA:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21539339:C:CCacceptor_gain1.0000
12:21539340:T:Gacceptor_loss1.0000

AlphaMissense

743 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

VariantProtein changeam_pathogenicity
12:21527184:A:TK46I0.980
12:21527185:A:CK46N0.974
12:21527185:A:TK46N0.974
12:21527158:G:CW37C0.968
12:21527158:G:TW37C0.968
12:21527156:T:AW37R0.963
12:21527156:T:CW37R0.963
12:21527181:T:CL45P0.949
12:21527168:G:CA41P0.940
12:21527186:G:AG47R0.938
12:21527186:G:CG47R0.938
12:21527186:G:TG47W0.928
12:21527184:A:CK46T0.925
12:21527177:T:GY44D0.923
12:21527738:T:CF53L0.923
12:21527740:C:AF53L0.923
12:21527740:C:GF53L0.923
12:21527175:T:AL43H0.911
12:21527175:T:CL43P0.910
12:21527152:G:CR35S0.906
12:21527152:G:TR35S0.906
12:21527729:G:CG50R0.901
12:21527167:A:CQ40H0.892
12:21527167:A:TQ40H0.892
12:21527178:A:GY44C0.884
12:21527178:A:CY44S0.877
12:21527177:T:AY44N0.876
12:21527183:A:GK46E0.876
12:21527155:C:AN36K0.868
12:21527155:C:GN36K0.868

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000981497 (12:21533064 G>T), RS1001067841 (12:21529725 G>A), RS1001351967 (12:21529994 C>G,T), RS1001575007 (12:21526326 C>G,T), RS1001582206 (12:21533408 T>A), RS1001910432 (12:21528449 T>C), RS1002632587 (12:21532622 T>G), RS1003018814 (12:21525379 T>C), RS1003199091 (12:21529543 G>A), RS1003794381 (12:21527978 C>A,T), RS1003856137 (12:21528147 G>C), RS1003989750 (12:21527427 C>G,T), RS1004462464 (12:21531000 T>A,C), RS1004863417 (12:21529706 C>G), RS1004893203 (12:21529307 C>A,T)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:619246 | disease phenotypes: MIM:608569

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (1): dilated cardiomyopathy 1O (MONDO:0012062)

Orphanet (1): Familial isolated dilated cardiomyopathy (Orphanet:154)

HPO phenotypes

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

GWAS associations

1 associations (top):

StudyTraitp-value
GCST90002395_117Mean platelet volume3.000000e-11

MeSH disease descriptors (1)

DescriptorNameTree numbers
C563906Cardiomyopathy, Dilated, 1o (supp.)

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

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

CTD chemical–gene interactions

49 total (human), top 30 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
Valproic Acidaffects cotreatment, increases expression, affects expression, decreases expression7
Cyclosporineincreases expression3
sodium arsenitedecreases expression, increases expression2
perfluorooctanoic acidincreases expression2
perfluoro-n-nonanoic acidincreases expression2
Vorinostataffects cotreatment, increases expression2
Copperaffects cotreatment, decreases expression, affects binding, increases expression2
Phenylmercuric Acetateaffects cotreatment, increases expression2
Silicon Dioxidedecreases expression, increases expression2
triphenyl phosphateaffects expression1
alpha-pineneaffects cotreatment, increases expression, increases abundance1
decabromobiphenyl etheraffects expression1
beta-lapachoneincreases expression1
tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphateincreases expression1
potassium chromate(VI)increases expression1
methacrylaldehydeincreases expression, increases abundance, affects cotreatment1
S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)cysteineaffects cotreatment, increases expression1
perfluorooctane sulfonic acidincreases expression1
2-palmitoylglycerolincreases expression1
entinostatdecreases expression1
4-(5-benzo(1,3)dioxol-5-yl-4-pyridin-2-yl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)benzamideaffects cotreatment, increases expression1
belinostatdecreases expression1
2,2’,4,4’-tetrabromodiphenyl etherincreases expression1
dorsomorphinaffects cotreatment, increases expression1
bisphenol Sincreases expression1
jinfukangaffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
NSC 689534affects binding, increases expression1
theaflavin-3,3’-digallateaffects expression1
Resveratrolaffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
Zoledronic Acidincreases expression1

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

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

  • Disease cohort memberships (association, not causation — diseases whose associated-gene cohort lists this gene; a subset are also under Associated diseases): dilated cardiomyopathy 1O