TAAR8

Summary

TAAR8 (trace amine associated receptor 8, HGNC:14964) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 6q23.2, encoding Trace amine-associated receptor 8 (Q969N4). Olfactory receptor specific for trace amines.

This gene is part of the trace amine receptor cluster on chromosome 6 and encodes an orphan G-protein coupled receptor. Upregulated expression of this gene in astroglial cells upon exposure to lipopolysaccharides suggests a function for the encoded protein in the brain.

Source: NCBI Gene 83551 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

• GWAS associations: 1
• Clinical variants (ClinVar): 67 total
• Druggable target: yes
• MANE Select transcript: NM_053278

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

Field	Value
HGNC ID	HGNC:14964
Approved symbol	TAAR8
Name	trace amine associated receptor 8
Location	6q23.2
Locus type	gene with protein product
Status	Approved
Aliases	TA5, TAR5
Ensembl gene	ENSG00000146385
Ensembl biotype	protein_coding
OMIM	606927
Entrez	83551

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 1 — 1 protein_coding

ENST00000275200

RefSeq mRNA: 1 — MANE Select: NM_053278 NM_053278

CCDS: CCDS5154

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000275200 — 1 exons

Exon	Start	End
ENSE00003978233	132552672	132553756

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth not_expressed, 0 present calls, max score 53.56.

Top tissues by expression

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

Tissue	Anatomy ID	Expression score	Quality
skin of hip	UBERON:0001554	53.56	silver quality
endothelial cell	CL:0000115	51.65	gold quality
tendon of biceps brachii	UBERON:0008188	47.24	gold quality
lower lobe of lung	UBERON:0008949	45.87	silver quality
skeletal muscle tissue of rectus abdominis	UBERON:0004511	43.37	gold quality
secondary oocyte	CL:0000655	42.57	gold quality
tibia	UBERON:0000979	41.53	gold quality
middle temporal gyrus	UBERON:0002771	41.48	gold quality
vastus lateralis	UBERON:0001379	41.41	gold quality
quadriceps femoris	UBERON:0001377	41.37	gold quality
superficial temporal artery	UBERON:0001614	41.33	gold quality
palpebral conjunctiva	UBERON:0001812	41.10	gold quality
mucosa of paranasal sinus	UBERON:0005030	40.98	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
epithelium of nasopharynx	UBERON:0001951	40.45	gold quality
myocardium	UBERON:0002349	40.45	gold quality
gingival epithelium	UBERON:0001949	40.43	gold quality
germinal epithelium of ovary	UBERON:0001304	40.33	gold quality
esophagus squamous epithelium	UBERON:0006920	40.29	gold quality
skeletal muscle tissue of biceps brachii	UBERON:0004502	40.27	gold quality
jejunum	UBERON:0002115	40.18	gold quality
cartilage tissue	UBERON:0002418	40.06	gold quality
oviduct epithelium	UBERON:0004804	40.03	gold quality
mammary duct	UBERON:0001765	39.98	gold quality
mucosa of sigmoid colon	UBERON:0004993	39.95	gold quality
deltoid	UBERON:0001476	39.83	gold quality
saphenous vein	UBERON:0007318	39.83	gold quality
parotid gland	UBERON:0001831	39.81	gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

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

Experiment	Marker?	Max mean expression
E-ANND-3	no	0.65

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 2)

• Previous studies reported TAAR expression in brain. This paper found TAAR expression only in olfactory epithelial cells and that each TAAR detects a unique set of amine ligands. TAARs seem to function as a family of chemosensory receptors for amines. (PMID:16878137)
• For the first time is confirmed basal Gi/o signaling activity for TAAR8. (PMID:25391046)

Cross-species orthologs

5 orthologs

Organism	Symbol	Gene ID
mus_musculus	Taar8a	ENSMUSG00000096442
mus_musculus	Taar8c	ENSMUSG00000100004
mus_musculus	Taar8b	ENSMUSG00000100186
rattus_norvegicus	Taar8c	ENSRNOG00000062917
rattus_norvegicus	Taar8a	ENSRNOG00000070320

Paralogs (25): DRD4 (ENSG00000069696), HRH3 (ENSG00000101180), HRH2 (ENSG00000113749), CHRM3 (ENSG00000133019), HRH4 (ENSG00000134489), TAAR5 (ENSG00000135569), GPR84 (ENSG00000139572), GPR161 (ENSG00000143147), TAAR2 (ENSG00000146378), TAAR6 (ENSG00000146383), TAAR1 (ENSG00000146399), DRD3 (ENSG00000151577), HTR4 (ENSG00000164270), CHRM1 (ENSG00000168539), DRD5 (ENSG00000169676), HTR1A (ENSG00000178394), HTR1D (ENSG00000179546), CHRM4 (ENSG00000180720), CHRM2 (ENSG00000181072), DRD1 (ENSG00000184845), CHRM5 (ENSG00000184984), GPR21 (ENSG00000188394), HRH1 (ENSG00000196639), GPR52 (ENSG00000203737), TAAR9 (ENSG00000237110)

Protein

Protein identifiers

Trace amine-associated receptor 8 — Q969N4 (reviewed: Q969N4)

Alternative names: G-protein coupled receptor 102, Trace amine receptor 5

All UniProt accessions (1): Q969N4

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Olfactory receptor specific for trace amines. Trace amine compounds are enriched in animal body fluids and act on trace amine-associated receptors (TAARs) to elicit both intraspecific and interspecific innate behaviors. Ligand-binding causes a conformation change that triggers signaling via G alpha proteins, possibly G(i)/G(o) G alpha proteins.

Subcellular location. Cell membrane.

Tissue specificity. Expressed in kidney and amygdala. Not expressed in other tissues or brain regions tested.

Similarity. Belongs to the G-protein coupled receptor 1 family.

RefSeq proteins (1): NP_444508* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

ID	Name	Type
IPR000276	GPCR_Rhodpsn	Family
IPR009132	TAAR_fam	Family
IPR017452	GPCR_Rhodpsn_7TM	Domain
IPR050569	TAAR	Family

Pfam: PF00001

UniProt features (23 total): topological domain 8, transmembrane region 7, sequence variant 3, glycosylation site 2, disulfide bond 2, chain 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

0 structures.

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

Model	pLDDT	Fraction very-high
AF-Q969N4-F1	91.20	0.75

Functional residue map

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

Disulfide bonds (2): 21–185, 104–189

Glycosylation sites (2): 4, 18

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

7 pathways

ID	Pathway
R-HSA-375280	Amine ligand-binding receptors
R-HSA-418555	G alpha (s) signalling events
R-HSA-162582	Signal Transduction
R-HSA-372790	Signaling by GPCR
R-HSA-373076	Class A/1 (Rhodopsin-like receptors)
R-HSA-388396	GPCR downstream signalling
R-HSA-500792	GPCR ligand binding

MSigDB gene sets: 18 (showing top): KEGG_NEUROACTIVE_LIGAND_RECEPTOR_INTERACTION, GOMF_G_PROTEIN_COUPLED_AMINE_RECEPTOR_ACTIVITY, REACTOME_CLASS_A_1_RHODOPSIN_LIKE_RECEPTORS, chr6q23, GOMF_TRANSMEMBRANE_SIGNALING_RECEPTOR_ACTIVITY, GOMF_G_PROTEIN_COUPLED_RECEPTOR_ACTIVITY, GOBP_G_PROTEIN_COUPLED_RECEPTOR_SIGNALING_PATHWAY, GOMF_TRACE_AMINE_RECEPTOR_ACTIVITY, HMGA1_TARGET_GENES, REACTOME_G_ALPHA_S_SIGNALLING_EVENTS, GOMF_MOLECULAR_TRANSDUCER_ACTIVITY, REACTOME_GPCR_LIGAND_BINDING, REACTOME_AMINE_LIGAND_BINDING_RECEPTORS, MCCABE_BOUND_BY_HOXC6, GSE4748_CYANOBACTERIUM_LPSLIKE_VS_LPS_AND_CYANOBACTERIUM_LPSLIKE_STIM_DC_3H_DN

GO Biological Process (2): G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway (GO:0007186), signal transduction (GO:0007165)

GO Molecular Function (2): trace-amine receptor activity (GO:0001594), G protein-coupled receptor activity (GO:0004930)

GO Cellular Component (2): plasma membrane (GO:0005886), membrane (GO:0016020)

Reactome top-level categories

Rollup of top-5 pathways:

Category	Pathways
Signaling by GPCR	2
Class A/1 (Rhodopsin-like receptors)	1
GPCR downstream signalling	1
Signal Transduction	1
GPCR ligand binding	1

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

Category	Terms
G protein-coupled receptor activity	1
signal transduction	1
cell communication	1
cellular process	1
signaling	1
regulation of cellular process	1
cellular response to stimulus	1
G protein-coupled amine receptor activity	1
transmembrane signaling receptor activity	1
G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway	1
membrane	1
cell periphery	1
cellular anatomical structure	1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

436 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein A	Protein B	Partner UniProt	Score
TAAR8	SERF1A	O75920	605
TAAR8	RBM8A	Q9Y5S9	479
TAAR8	AVPR2	P30518	420
TAAR8	ADRB2	P07550	399
TAAR8	OR52H1	Q8NGJ2	379
TAAR8	UGT1A1	P22309	378
TAAR8	UGT1A4	P22310	374
TAAR8	HRH4	Q9H3N8	372
TAAR8	TARDBP	Q13148	370
TAAR8	CNGA2	Q16280	370
TAAR8	UGT1A7	Q9HAW7	370
TAAR8	UGT1A10	Q9HAW8	370
TAAR8	UGT1A8	Q9HAW9	370
TAAR8	UGT1A6	P19224	360
TAAR8	NDUFAF3	Q9BU61	348

IntAct

7 interactions, top by confidence:

A	B	Type	Score
SRPK1	TAAR8	psi-mi:“MI:0217”(phosphorylation reaction)	0.440
RAMP1	TAAR8	psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)	0.400
RAMP2	TAAR8	psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)	0.400
RAMP3	TAAR8	psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)	0.400

ESM2 similar proteins: O02667, O13076, O77621, P0C0L6, P0DMS8, P25099, P28190, P28647, P29275, P29276, P35342, P35382, P47745, P47936, P49892, P79945, Q0VC81, Q1LZD0, Q28309, Q32ZE2, Q56H79, Q5QD05, Q5QD06, Q5QD07, Q5QD08, Q5QD10, Q5QD11, Q5QD12, Q5QD13, Q5QD21, Q5RF57, Q5W8W0, Q60612, Q60614, Q61618, Q6W3F4, Q6W5P4, Q7TQP3, Q8BZP8, Q923X5

Diamond homologs: A0A678XMK4, O02662, O02666, O14804, O19091, O42574, O70528, O77680, O77700, P07700, P11617, P17124, P18089, P21728, P23944, P25021, P25100, P25102, P25115, P28221, P28565, P35405, P35406, P42289, P42290, P42291, P43141, P46626, P47747, P47800, P49145, P50406, P53452, P53454, P60021, P61752, P79400, P97288, P97292, P97714

SIGNOR signaling

0 interactions.

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

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

Classification	Count (floor)
Pathogenic	0
Likely pathogenic	0
Uncertain significance	63
Likely benign	2
Benign	2

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

221 predictions. Top by Δscore:

Variant	Effect	Δscore
6:132552738:G:GT	donor_gain	0.9200
6:132553230:G:GG	donor_gain	0.8600
6:132552780:TCCC:T	donor_gain	0.6700
6:132552930:G:GG	donor_gain	0.6700
6:132552789:ATTCT:A	donor_gain	0.6500
6:132553071:ATC:A	acceptor_gain	0.6500
6:132552790:T:G	donor_gain	0.6400
6:132553071:A:AG	acceptor_gain	0.6300
6:132552745:A:G	donor_gain	0.5900
6:132552784:G:A	donor_gain	0.5900
6:132552788:AATTC:A	donor_gain	0.5900
6:132552987:T:G	donor_gain	0.5900
6:132552737:GGAT:G	donor_gain	0.5800
6:132552871:A:G	acceptor_gain	0.5800
6:132553202:TGTC:T	donor_gain	0.5600
6:132552981:T:A	donor_gain	0.5300
6:132553229:A:AG	donor_gain	0.5300
6:132552868:TTAA:T	acceptor_gain	0.5100
6:132552869:TAAG:T	acceptor_gain	0.5100
6:132552925:TCTTG:T	donor_loss	0.5100
6:132552926:CTTGG:C	donor_loss	0.5100
6:132552927:TTGG:T	donor_loss	0.5100
6:132552928:TGGT:T	donor_loss	0.5100
6:132552929:GGTA:G	donor_loss	0.5100
6:132552930:GT:G	donor_loss	0.5100
6:132552931:TAGG:T	donor_loss	0.5100
6:132552986:T:TG	donor_gain	0.5100
6:132552932:AGGT:A	donor_loss	0.5000
6:132552933:G:GC	donor_loss	0.5000
6:132552934:G:T	donor_loss	0.5000

AlphaMissense

2238 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

Variant	Protein change	am_pathogenicity
6:132553488:T:C	F266L	0.967
6:132553490:T:A	F266L	0.967
6:132553490:T:G	F266L	0.967
6:132552867:T:C	F59L	0.960
6:132552869:T:A	F59L	0.960
6:132552869:T:G	F59L	0.960
6:132553641:T:C	F317L	0.953
6:132553643:T:A	F317L	0.953
6:132553643:T:G	F317L	0.953
6:132552983:G:C	W97C	0.939
6:132552983:G:T	W97C	0.939
6:132553158:T:A	W156R	0.931
6:132553158:T:C	W156R	0.931
6:132552981:T:A	W97R	0.919
6:132552981:T:C	W97R	0.919
6:132553581:T:A	W297R	0.913
6:132553581:T:C	W297R	0.913
6:132552923:C:A	D77E	0.912
6:132552923:C:G	D77E	0.912
6:132553179:A:C	S163R	0.909
6:132553181:C:A	S163R	0.909
6:132553181:C:G	S163R	0.909
6:132553068:T:C	C126R	0.896
6:132553070:C:G	C126W	0.894
6:132553500:T:A	W270R	0.894
6:132553500:T:C	W270R	0.894
6:132552839:T:A	N49K	0.892
6:132552839:T:G	N49K	0.892
6:132553257:T:A	C189S	0.887
6:132553258:G:C	C189S	0.887

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000082807 (6:132551349 T>C), RS1002326991 (6:132552462 C>T), RS1002647060 (6:132552319 T>G), RS1002831945 (6:132552789 A>T), RS1003763247 (6:132551456 C>A), RS1004226839 (6:132551266 A>C), RS1005262211 (6:132551274 T>C), RS1006143493 (6:132551515 C>A,G,T), RS1008214086 (6:132553484 A>G), RS1008287233 (6:132553187 T>A,C), RS1011415074 (6:132552241 G>T), RS1012421169 (6:132550983 G>A), RS1014357840 (6:132552498 T>C), RS1016635990 (6:132552098 TAA>T), RS1016710901 (6:132551728 A>AG)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:606927 | 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
GCST006222_4	Cerebellum growth	2.000000e-06

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: yes

ChEMBL targets (1): CHEMBL4523902 (SINGLE PROTEIN)

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

GtoPdb / IUPHAR curated pharmacology

(IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology — expert-curated)

Target class: gpcr — TAAR2, TAAR3, TAAR4p, TAAR5, TAAR6, TAAR8, TAAR9

CTD chemical–gene interactions

5 total (human), top 5 by PubMed support.

Chemical	Actions (top 5)	PubMed papers
CGP 52608	increases reaction, affects binding	1
2-palmitoylglycerol	increases expression	1
Resveratrol	affects cotreatment, decreases expression	1
Benzo(a)pyrene	decreases methylation	1
Plant Extracts	affects cotreatment, decreases expression	1

ChEMBL screening assays

2 unique, capped per target: 2 binding

Representative assays (with source publication via chembl_document):

Assay ID	Type	Description	Source paper
CHEMBL4883608	Binding	PRESTO-Tango GPCRome screening (TAAR8)	Data for DCP probe UCSF924

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

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