SULT4A1

gene
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Also known as SULTX3hBR-STL-1

Summary

SULT4A1 (sulfotransferase family 4A member 1, HGNC:14903) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 22q13.31, encoding Sulfotransferase 4A1 (Q9BR01). Atypical sulfotransferase family member with very low affinity for 3’-phospho-5’-adenylyl sulfate (PAPS) and very low catalytic activity towards L-triiodothyronine, thyroxine, estrone, p-nitrophenol, 2-naphthylamine, and 2-beta-naphthol.

This gene encodes a member of the sulfotransferase family. The encoded protein is a brain-specific sulfotransferase believed to be involved in the metabolism of neurotransmitters. Polymorphisms in this gene may be associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia.

Source: NCBI Gene 25830 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • GWAS associations: 1
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 25 total
  • Druggable target: yes
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_014351

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:14903
Approved symbolSULT4A1
Namesulfotransferase family 4A member 1
Location22q13.31
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
AliasesSULTX3, hBR-STL-1
Ensembl geneENSG00000130540
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM608359
Entrez25830

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 5 — 2 protein_coding, 2 nonsense_mediated_decay, 1 retained_intron

ENST00000330884, ENST00000422525, ENST00000432404, ENST00000475131, ENST00000884819

RefSeq mRNA: 1 — MANE Select: NM_014351 NM_014351

CCDS: CCDS14051

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000330884 — 7 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE000006569174384180243841932
ENSE000013296774382450943826113
ENSE000018981654386221443862513
ENSE000034945784383364043833734
ENSE000035516424383994543840025
ENSE000035652554382906043829198
ENSE000036878494383886743838993

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 187 present calls, max score 97.72.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth broad, TPM avg 4.4216 / max 189.5421, expressed in 410 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (4 alternative TSS)

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
1945152.3946216
1945161.7414362
1945140.234182
2094950.051433

Top tissues by expression

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

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
right frontal lobeUBERON:000281097.72gold quality
prefrontal cortexUBERON:000045197.69gold quality
Brodmann (1909) area 9UBERON:001354097.43gold quality
middle temporal gyrusUBERON:000277197.34gold quality
dorsolateral prefrontal cortexUBERON:000983497.25gold quality
Brodmann (1909) area 10UBERON:001354197.18gold quality
frontal cortexUBERON:000187097.14gold quality
right hemisphere of cerebellumUBERON:001489096.95gold quality
cerebellar hemisphereUBERON:000224596.87gold quality
cerebellar cortexUBERON:000212996.85gold quality
neocortexUBERON:000195096.52gold quality
primary visual cortexUBERON:000243696.52gold quality
cingulate cortexUBERON:000302796.49gold quality
anterior cingulate cortexUBERON:000983596.47gold quality
frontal poleUBERON:000279596.40gold quality
lateral nuclear group of thalamusUBERON:000273696.35gold quality
Brodmann (1909) area 23UBERON:001355496.30gold quality
orbitofrontal cortexUBERON:000416796.20gold quality
cerebellumUBERON:000203796.18gold quality
occipital lobeUBERON:000202195.99gold quality
Brodmann (1909) area 46UBERON:000648395.72gold quality
cerebral cortexUBERON:000095695.71gold quality
substantia nigra pars compactaUBERON:000196595.64gold quality
superior frontal gyrusUBERON:000266195.32gold quality
cerebellar vermisUBERON:000472095.22gold quality
ponsUBERON:000098894.75gold quality
cortical plateUBERON:000534394.65gold quality
telencephalonUBERON:000189394.19gold quality
hypothalamusUBERON:000189894.00gold quality
dorsal root ganglionUBERON:000004493.71gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

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

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-ANND-3no1.93

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

Upstream regulators (CollecTRI, top): ATF2, CREB1

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

76 targeting SULT4A1, 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-3646100.0073.565283
HSA-MIR-3163100.0077.238605
HSA-MIR-6748-5P100.0065.811057
HSA-MIR-548AN99.9770.912817
HSA-MIR-4666A-3P99.9671.713434
HSA-MIR-3912-5P99.9566.11925
HSA-MIR-101-3P99.9475.032230
HSA-MIR-144-3P99.9473.982698
HSA-MIR-589-3P99.9169.622088
HSA-MIR-659-3P99.8570.691620
HSA-MIR-3121-3P99.8271.963630
HSA-MIR-3180-5P99.8269.122422
HSA-MIR-44899.7972.372103
HSA-MIR-431999.7669.832586
HSA-MIR-5002-5P99.7670.841763
HSA-MIR-371499.7170.742671
HSA-MIR-4699-3P99.7170.153142
HSA-MIR-128399.6972.423009
HSA-MIR-509399.6769.262291
HSA-MIR-6512-3P99.6566.071468
HSA-MIR-6720-5P99.6566.221459
HSA-MIR-570099.6469.882280
HSA-MIR-613499.6365.681537
HSA-MIR-142-3P99.6271.30974
HSA-MIR-426199.5970.303415
HSA-MIR-1252-3P99.5567.712862
HSA-MIR-888-3P99.5369.771057
HSA-MIR-65799.4866.02848
HSA-MIR-147B-5P99.4570.622432
HSA-MIR-513A-3P99.3970.633620

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 12)

  • the first immunohistochemical localization of SULT4A1 in human brain (PMID:14623933)
  • Candidate gene for schizophrenia susceptibility. (PMID:16152568)
  • These results provide the first evidence of how genetic variation in Sult4A1 may be related to clinical symptoms and cognitive function in schizophrenia (PMID:18823757)
  • The lack of polymorphisms in the coding region of the SULT4A1 gene is highly unusual and, along with its high conservation between species, suggests that SULT4A1 may have an important function in vivo. (PMID:19125109)
  • Cytosolic SULT4A1 interacts with PIN1. (PMID:19439498)
  • determination of SULT4A1-1 haplotype status might be useful for identifying patients who show an enhanced response to long-term olanzapine treatment. (PMID:21521020)
  • This study provides a second replication of superior olanzapine response in SULT4A1-1-positive subjects compared with SULT4A1-1-negative subjects. (PMID:24956247)
  • These results show that SULT4A1 is widely expressed in human tissues, but mostly as a splice variant that produces a rapidly degraded protein. Dimerization protects the protein from degradation. (PMID:24988429)
  • Across three psychiatric disorders (n=2815 patients), we observed no consistent association between SULT4A1-1 status and atypical antipsychotic effect (PMID:25340730)
  • Study using SH-SY5Y cells, human induced pluripotent stem cells, and mouse embryonic tissue revealed time-dependent changes in SULT4A1 protein and MBNL/CELF protein during differentiation supported their role in correctly splicing the SULT4A1 mRNA. Furthermore, ectopic expression of each factor produced efficient splicing in the minigene assay as well as correct splicing of the endogenous SULT4A1 mRNA. (PMID:30606728)
  • Study in SULT4A1 knockout mice demonstrates that depletion of SULT4A1 induces oxidative stress in neurons and expression of SULT4A1 in human SH-SY5Y cells protects against oxidative-stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. Results suggest that SULT4A1 may have a crucial protective function against mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. (PMID:31266751)
  • Interaction of the Brain-Selective Sulfotransferase SULT4A1 with Other Cytosolic Sulfotransferases: Effects on Protein Expression and Function. (PMID:32152050)

Cross-species orthologs

6 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
danio_reriosult4a1ENSDARG00000101967
mus_musculusSult4a1ENSMUSG00000018865
rattus_norvegicusSult4a1ENSRNOG00000046975
drosophila_melanogasterSt4FBGN0033887
drosophila_melanogasterSt1FBGN0034887
drosophila_melanogasterSt3FBGN0265052

Paralogs (12): SULT2B1 (ENSG00000088002), SULT2A1 (ENSG00000105398), SULT1E1 (ENSG00000109193), SULT6B1 (ENSG00000138068), SULT1B1 (ENSG00000173597), SULT1C3 (ENSG00000196228), SULT1A1 (ENSG00000196502), SULT1A2 (ENSG00000197165), SULT1C4 (ENSG00000198075), SULT1C2 (ENSG00000198203), SULT1A4 (ENSG00000213648), SULT1A3 (ENSG00000261052)

Protein

Protein identifiers

Sulfotransferase 4A1Q9BR01 (reviewed: Q9BR01)

Alternative names: Brain sulfotransferase-like protein, Nervous system sulfotransferase

All UniProt accessions (3): Q9BR01, B7Z2E1, F8WE22

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Atypical sulfotransferase family member with very low affinity for 3’-phospho-5’-adenylyl sulfate (PAPS) and very low catalytic activity towards L-triiodothyronine, thyroxine, estrone, p-nitrophenol, 2-naphthylamine, and 2-beta-naphthol. May have a role in the metabolism of drugs and neurotransmitters in the CNS.

Subcellular location. Cytoplasm.

Tissue specificity. Highly expressed in the cerebral cortex and frontal lobe, slightly less in the cerebellum, occipital and temporal lobes, relatively low in the medulla and putamen, and lowest in the spinal cord. No expression detected in the pancreas. Highly expressed in fetal brain and occipital lobe, slightly less in the whole brain, frontal lobe, hippocampus, and lung, very low expression in cerebellum, medulla oblongata, temporal lobe, testis, kidney and appendix.

Similarity. Belongs to the sulfotransferase 1 family.

Isoforms (2)

UniProt IDNamesCanonical?
Q9BR01-11yes
Q9BR01-22

RefSeq proteins (1): NP_055166* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR000863Sulfotransferase_domDomain
IPR027417P-loop_NTPaseHomologous_superfamily

Pfam: PF00685

Enzyme classification (BRENDA):

  • EC 2.8.2.1 — aryl sulfotransferase (BRENDA: 19 organisms, 630 substrates, 215 inhibitors, 314 Km, 55 kcat entries)

Substrate kinetics (BRENDA)

81 substrates with measured Km, best-characterized 15. Km ranges are aggregated across organisms/conditions.

SubstrateKm (mM)Measurements
DOPAMINE0.0006–11.339
4-NITROPHENOL0.0001–30.936
3’-PHOSPHOADENYLYLSULFATE0.0003–0.5117
ACETAMINOPHEN0.43–4.514
MORPHINE3.8–1013
O-DESMETHYL TRAMADOL0.27–0.813
TAPENTADOL0.09–0.8413
3’-PHOSPHOADENYLYL SULFATE0.0008–0.02412
DAIDZEIN0.0005–0.4078
GENISTEIN0.0005–0.3718
6-HYDROXYMELATONIN0.018–0.0656
7-HYDROXYCOUMARIN0.0005–0.0034
ROTIGOTINE0.0291–0.11914
2-AMINOPHENOL0.009–0.2233
3,3’,5-TRIIODO-L-THYRONINE0.0387–0.1263

UniProt features (31 total): helix 15, strand 8, modified residue 3, sequence conflict 2, chain 1, turn 1, splice variant 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

1 structures.

PDBMethodResolution (Å)
1ZD1X-RAY DIFFRACTION2.24

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-Q9BR01-F187.720.71

Functional residue map

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

Post-translational modifications (3): 8, 11, 205

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

4 pathways

IDPathway
R-HSA-156584Cytosolic sulfonation of small molecules
R-HSA-1430728Metabolism
R-HSA-156580Phase II - Conjugation of compounds
R-HSA-211859Biological oxidations

MSigDB gene sets: 180 (showing top): ATF_B, GOBP_DENDRITE_DEVELOPMENT, REACTOME_BIOLOGICAL_OXIDATIONS, MORF_FLT1, CAR_TNFRSF25, MORF_MSH3, MODULE_45, MORF_BRCA1, GOBP_NEUROGENESIS, MORF_ESR1, MODULE_16, GOBP_SULFATION, MORF_RAD51L3, MODULE_66, ATF1_Q6

GO Biological Process (5): steroid metabolic process (GO:0008202), sulfation (GO:0051923), dendrite arborization (GO:0140059), lipid metabolic process (GO:0006629), sulfur compound metabolic process (GO:0006790)

GO Molecular Function (4): sulfotransferase activity (GO:0008146), identical protein binding (GO:0042802), protein binding (GO:0005515), transferase activity (GO:0016740)

GO Cellular Component (3): cytoplasm (GO:0005737), mitochondrion (GO:0005739), cytosol (GO:0005829)

Reactome top-level categories

Rollup of top-3 pathways:

CategoryPathways
Phase II - Conjugation of compounds1
Biological oxidations1
Metabolism1

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

CategoryTerms
cellular anatomical structure2
cytoplasm2
lipid metabolic process1
sulfur compound metabolic process1
dendrite morphogenesis1
neuron projection arborization1
primary metabolic process1
metabolic process1
transferase activity, transferring sulphur-containing groups1
protein binding1
binding1
catalytic activity1
intracellular anatomical structure1
intracellular membrane-bounded organelle1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

1390 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
SULT4A1SLC35B2Q8TB61924
SULT4A1SLC35D3Q5M8T2743
SULT4A1SLC35D2Q76EJ3681
SULT4A1SLC35D1Q9NTN3669
SULT4A1RABL2BQ9UNT1512
SULT4A1CTXN1P60606490
SULT4A1PAPSS1O43252448
SULT4A1RABL2AQ9UBK7447
SULT4A1KMT2EQ8IZD2435
SULT4A1KCNH7Q9NS40424
SULT4A1BEX1Q9HBH7413
SULT4A1LZTS1Q9Y250412
SULT4A1SHANK3Q9BYB0411
SULT4A1PAPSS2O95340406
SULT4A1PARVBQ9HBI1400

IntAct

27 interactions, top by confidence:

ABTypeScore
SULT4A1MAPK8IP3psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.670
SULT4A1SULT4A1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.670
SULT4A1PIN1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.580
PIN1SULT4A1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.580
BCL6BSULT4A1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
TGM1SULT4A1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
SULT4A1POT1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.510
SULT4A1AKT1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.370
PRNPCARNS1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
SULT4A1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
SULT4A1SULT1A3psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
BCL6BTUBA3Cpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
SULT4A1SULT2B1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
POT1SULT4A1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
SULT4A1MAPK8IP3psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
SULT4A1TGM1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
SULT4A1SULT4A1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
RUNX1SULT4A1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000

BioGRID (44): DPH2 (Affinity Capture-MS), ANKRD13C (Affinity Capture-MS), DPH1 (Affinity Capture-MS), SULT4A1 (Affinity Capture-MS), SULT4A1 (Two-hybrid), SULT4A1 (Affinity Capture-MS), PARVG (Affinity Capture-MS), SULT1A1 (Affinity Capture-MS), ERMN (Affinity Capture-MS), SULT1A3 (Affinity Capture-MS), MAPK3 (Biochemical Activity), PPP2R4 (Biochemical Activity), PPP2R2B (Reconstituted Complex), PPP2R2B (Affinity Capture-Western), SULT4A1 (Two-hybrid)

ESM2 similar proteins: A0A2H5AIX7, F1B282, F1B283, H2DH22, K4CI52, O24312, O42231, O42430, O42457, O81928, P04798, P37114, P37115, P48522, P56591, P63046, P63047, P92994, P93596, P93846, Q04468, Q05JG2, Q07217, Q09J79, Q42797, Q43033, Q43054, Q43067, Q43240, Q5KQT7, Q5W6F1, Q6GUR1, Q6TBX7, Q92095, Q92100, Q92109, Q92110, Q92116, Q949P1, Q94IP1

Diamond homologs: A0A173GP47, A0A2K5X3B6, G3V9R3, O00338, O35400, O43704, O46503, O46640, O75897, P0DMM9, P0DMN0, P19217, P49887, P49888, P49891, P50236, P50237, P52839, P52840, P52842, P52844, P52847, P63046, P63047, Q29476, Q3T0Y3, Q3UZZ6, Q6IMI6, Q80VR3, Q8BGL3, Q8JG30, Q95JD5, Q9BR01, Q9C9D0, Q9D939, Q9FZ80, Q9QWG7, Q9WUW8, Q9WUW9, B2RVI8

SIGNOR signaling

1 interactions.

AEffectBMechanism
MAPK3down-regulatesSULT4A1phosphorylation

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 significance19
Likely benign2
Benign0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

1919 predictions. Top by Δscore:

VariantEffectΔscore
22:43829055:CGTA:Cdonor_loss1.0000
22:43829056:GTA:Gdonor_loss1.0000
22:43829057:TA:Tdonor_loss1.0000
22:43829058:A:ACdonor_gain1.0000
22:43829058:AC:Adonor_gain1.0000
22:43829058:ACC:Adonor_gain1.0000
22:43829059:C:CCdonor_gain1.0000
22:43829059:C:CTdonor_loss1.0000
22:43829059:CC:Cdonor_gain1.0000
22:43829059:CCC:Cdonor_gain1.0000
22:43833730:GCCCA:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
22:43833731:CCCA:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
22:43833731:CCCAC:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
22:43833732:CCA:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
22:43833732:CCAC:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
22:43833733:CA:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
22:43833733:CAC:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
22:43833735:C:CCacceptor_gain1.0000
22:43838866:CG:Cdonor_gain1.0000
22:43838872:T:Cdonor_gain1.0000
22:43838994:C:Aacceptor_loss1.0000
22:43838995:T:Aacceptor_loss1.0000
22:43839940:CTTA:Cdonor_loss1.0000
22:43839941:TTAC:Tdonor_loss1.0000
22:43839942:TACC:Tdonor_loss1.0000
22:43839943:A:ACdonor_gain1.0000
22:43839943:A:Tdonor_loss1.0000
22:43839944:C:CCdonor_gain1.0000
22:43839944:C:CTdonor_loss1.0000
22:43840021:AGTTC:Aacceptor_gain1.0000

AlphaMissense

1890 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

VariantProtein changeam_pathogenicity
22:43826099:A:GW253R0.999
22:43826099:A:TW253R0.999
22:43833720:A:GW175R0.999
22:43833720:A:TW175R0.999
22:43838892:G:CF161L0.999
22:43838892:G:TF161L0.999
22:43838894:A:GF161L0.999
22:43838967:C:AK136N0.999
22:43838967:C:GK136N0.999
22:43838971:G:TP135H0.999
22:43838973:G:CN134K0.999
22:43838973:G:TN134K0.999
22:43839996:G:CS110R0.999
22:43839996:G:TS110R0.999
22:43839998:T:GS110R0.999
22:43826086:A:GF257S0.998
22:43833697:G:CF182L0.998
22:43833697:G:TF182L0.998
22:43833699:A:GF182L0.998
22:43838880:A:CF165L0.998
22:43838880:A:TF165L0.998
22:43838882:A:GF165L0.998
22:43838893:A:GF161S0.998
22:43838940:G:CF145L0.998
22:43838940:G:TF145L0.998
22:43838942:A:GF145L0.998
22:43838977:C:GR133P0.998
22:43839991:A:GL112P0.998
22:43839995:G:CH111D0.998
22:43862228:G:AT52I0.998

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000061949 (22:43832084 C>A), RS1000074666 (22:43845187 C>G), RS1000111178 (22:43856999 T>C), RS1000211923 (22:43860446 C>A,T), RS1000310438 (22:43850073 G>A,C), RS1000341945 (22:43855114 C>T), RS1000368215 (22:43842581 C>G,T), RS1000441978 (22:43842780 G>A), RS1000479692 (22:43824140 A>G), RS1000565741 (22:43860732 T>C,G), RS1000575929 (22:43827378 C>T), RS1000608732 (22:43829742 C>T), RS1000646241 (22:43840755 G>A), RS1000714775 (22:43858562 C>G), RS1000771574 (22:43835350 G>C)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:608359 | 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):

StudyTraitp-value
GCST001843_4Type 2 diabetes (dietary heme iron intake interaction)9.000000e-06

EFO canonical traits (1, from GWAS)

EFO IDTrait name
EFO:0008355dietary heme iron intake measurement

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: yes

ChEMBL targets (1): CHEMBL1743298 (SINGLE PROTEIN)

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

CTD chemical–gene interactions

20 total (human), top 20 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
ethylbenzeneaffects cotreatment, decreases expression, increases methylation1
trichostatin Aincreases expression1
4-nitrophenolincreases metabolic processing1
2-naphtholincreases metabolic processing1
CGP 52608affects binding, increases reaction1
Resveratrolincreases expression1
Sunitinibdecreases expression1
Arsenicincreases methylation1
Benzo(a)pyreneincreases methylation1
Estroneincreases metabolic processing1
Leadaffects expression1
Rotenonedecreases expression1
Thyroxineincreases metabolic processing1
Tolueneaffects cotreatment, decreases expression, increases methylation1
Triclosanincreases expression1
Triiodothyronineincreases metabolic processing1
Xylenesaffects cotreatment, decreases expression, increases methylation1
2-Naphthylamineincreases metabolic processing1
8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphateincreases expression1
Aflatoxin B1decreases methylation1

ChEMBL screening assays

1 unique, capped per target: 1 admet

Representative assays (with source publication via chembl_document):

Assay IDTypeDescriptionSource paper
CHEMBL1743313ADMETMajor substrate of human cytosolic sulfotransferase SULT4A1_v1Casarett and Doull’s Toxicology The Basic Science of Poisons, 7th edition

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

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

No linked Atlas pages yet — the cross-entity mesh grows as the corpus expands.