EXOC4 Gene

Name	exocyst complex component 4
Description	The protein encoded by this gene is a component of the exocyst complex, a multiple protein complex essential for targeting exocytic vesicles to specific docking sites on the plasma membrane. Though best characterized in yeast, the component proteins and functions of exocyst complex have been demonstrated to be highly conserved in higher eukaryotes. At least eight components of the exocyst complex, including this protein, are found to interact with the actin cytoskeletal remodeling and vesicle transport machinery. The complex is also essential for the biogenesis of epithelial cell surface polarity. Alternate transcriptional splice variants, encoding different isoforms, have been characterized. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n EXOC4, also known as SEC8, is a core subunit of the exocyst complex, a conserved eight‐protein machinery that functions to tether post‐Golgi secretory vesicles to precise sites on the plasma membrane. Through its role in polarized exocytosis, EXOC4 is critical for the delivery of membrane proteins and lipids during many cellular processes. For example, in neuronal cells EXOC4 participates in the efficient trafficking and cell surface insertion of receptors—such as N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors—via its interaction with PDZ domain proteins, thereby contributing to synapse development and plasticity."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "1", "end_ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In invasive tumor cells, EXOC4 forms part of an exocyst assembly that couples with cytoskeletal regulators to target matrix metalloproteinases to invadopodia, promoting focal extracellular matrix degradation and invasion."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Moreover, in the context of ciliogenesis, loss‐of‐function mutations affecting EXOC4 have been linked to ciliopathies such as Meckel–Gruber syndrome, underscoring its essential role in primary cilium formation and the maintenance of ciliary signaling."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Further, regulation of vesicle–tethering events by small GTPases (for example, through effectors like MyRIP) implicates EXOC4 in other critical processes such as insulin‐stimulated glucose transporter trafficking and neurite outgrowth."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Collectively, these studies demonstrate that EXOC4 serves as an indispensable scaffold linking membrane remodeling to cytoskeletal dynamics and signaling, thus coordinating diverse physiological processes from synaptic receptor delivery and tumor cell invasion to ciliogenesis.\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nathalie Sans, Kate Prybylowski, Ronald S Petralia, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "NMDA receptor trafficking through an interaction between PDZ proteins and the exocyst complex."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nat Cell Biol (2003)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/ncb990"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb990"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "12738960"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12738960"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nashaat Z Gerges, Donald S Backos, Chamila N Rupasinghe, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Dual role of the exocyst in AMPA receptor targeting and insertion into the postsynaptic membrane."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "EMBO J (2006)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/sj.emboj.7601065"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.emboj.7601065"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16601687"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16601687"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yana Chernyshova, Iryna Leshchyns'ka, Shu-Chan Hsu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The neural cell adhesion molecule promotes FGFR-dependent phosphorylation and membrane targeting of the exocyst complex to induce exocytosis in growth cones."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Neurosci (2011)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3109-10.2011"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3109-10.2011"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "21389209"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21389209"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Mika Sakurai-Yageta, Chiara Recchi, Gaëlle Le Dez, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The interaction of IQGAP1 with the exocyst complex is required for tumor cell invasion downstream of Cdc42 and RhoA."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Cell Biol (2008)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1083/jcb.200709076"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200709076"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "18541705"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18541705"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Ranad Shaheen, Eissa Faqeih, Muneera J Alshammari, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Genomic analysis of Meckel-Gruber syndrome in Arabs reveals marked genetic heterogeneity and novel candidate genes."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Eur J Hum Genet (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/ejhg.2012.254"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/ejhg.2012.254"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "23169490"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23169490"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "April S Goehring, Benjamin S Pedroja, Simon A Hinke, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "MyRIP anchors protein kinase A to the exocyst complex."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Biol Chem (2007)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1074/jbc.M705167200"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M705167200"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "17827149"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17827149"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	SEC8, SEC8P, SEC8L1
Proteins	EXOC4_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	60412
API
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Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

EXOC4 has 11,988 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, functional term, phrase or reference, chemical, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 124 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for EXOC4 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

EXOC4 Gene

Functional Associations

Please acknowledge the Harmonizome in your publications by citing the following reference(s):

	Dataset	Summary
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of EXOC4 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of EXOC4 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles	tissue samples with high or low expression of EXOC4 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of EXOC4 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq	tissue samples with high or low expression of EXOC4 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of EXOC4 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of EXOC4 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of EXOC4 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of EXOC4 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of EXOC4 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with EXOC4 protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of EXOC4 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of EXOC4 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022	transcription factors binding the promoter of EXOC4 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CM4AI U2OS Cell Map Protein Localization Assemblies	assemblies containing EXOC4 protein from integrated AP-MS and IF data from the CM4AI U2OS Cell Map Protein Localization Assemblies dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing EXOC4 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing EXOC4 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing EXOC4 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing EXOC4 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with EXOC4 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components co-occuring with EXOC4 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	CORUM Protein Complexes	protein complexs containing EXOC4 protein from the CORUM Protein Complexes dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of EXOC4 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with EXOC4 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with EXOC4 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with EXOC4 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	dbGAP Gene-Trait Associations	traits associated with EXOC4 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the dbGAP Gene-Trait Associations dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by EXOC4 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases associated with EXOC4 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with EXOC4 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with EXOC4 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases co-occuring with EXOC4 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with EXOC4 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with EXOC4 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at EXOC4 gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of EXOC4 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of EXOC4 gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing EXOC4 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with EXOC4 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with EXOC4 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations dataset.