Sodium Channel Voltage Gated Type VIII Alpha (SCN8a)

Voltage-dependent sodium channels, such as SCN8A, are responsible for the initial membrane depolarization that occurs during generation of action potentials in most electrically excitable cells.

SCN8A encodes a 1,980-amino acid protein that shares close to 99% sequence identity with the mouse protein. It contains several consensus sites for phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues that are also conserved in other sodium channel family members.SCN8A gene contains 28 exons and identified an additional pair of alternatively spliced exons, 5N and 5A, that encode transmembrane segments of domain I. Exons 5N and 5A differ by a single amino acid difference at position 7.