{"entity":{"id":"scn8a","kind":"target","name":"SCN8A","aka":["sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 8","Sodium channel protein type 8 subunit alpha","Nav1.6","NaCh6","PN4","CerIII"],"tldr":"SCN8A (Sodium channel protein type 8 subunit alpha) is a gene. The public catalogues list it as a drug target and a biomarker, and an approved or late-stage drug is recorded against it. Tied to Non-small-cell lung cancer.","summary":"Pore-forming subunit of a voltage-gated sodium channel complex assuming opened or closed conformations in response to the voltage difference across membranes and through which sodium ions selectively pass along their electrochemical gradient. Contributes to neuronal excitability by regulating action potential threshold and propagation. More specifically expressed in non-neuronal cells, could play a role in sodium release from intracellular compartments and participate in the control of podosomes formation and macrophages adhesion and movement.\n\nCIViC holds 1 clinical evidence item and 0 assertions across 1 variant, naming Pembrolizumab. Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.56 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.91, animal model 0.57, genetic association 0.00, clinical 0.86).","asOf":"2026-09-23","links":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:10596","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:10596"},{"label":"UniProt Q9UQD0","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q9UQD0/entry"},{"label":"NCBI Gene 6334","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/6334"},{"label":"Ensembl ENSG00000196876","url":"https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000196876"}],"tags":["cancer-genes-wave"],"related":["civic","open-targets"],"cancers":["nsclc"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: Open Targets known-drug datatype score 0.86; CIViC holds 1 clinical evidence items on its variants. Evidence tier \"approved-drug\" is the strongest of those signals.","Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate."],"provenance":{"editedBy":"scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts (CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC, UniProt)","editedOn":"2026-09-23"},"symbol":"SCN8A","role":["drug-target","biomarker"],"evidenceTier":"approved-drug","sources":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:10596","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:10596","note":"approved symbol, name, aliases, locus and cross-references (hgnc_complete_set.txt)"},{"label":"UniProt Q9UQD0","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q9UQD0/entry","note":"protein name, function text, keywords and locations (REST API)"},{"label":"CIViC gene SCN8A","url":"https://civicdb.org/features/5128","note":"1 evidence items, 0 assertions, 1 variants; diseases: Lung Adenocarcinoma (GraphQL API, CC0)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000196876","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000196876/associations","note":"association with cancer (MONDO_0004992) 0.56;  (GraphQL API, CC0)"}],"distribution":"one-type","specificityNote":"Specificity not established: no corpus medicine is aimed at it and the catalogues give it only the roles drug-target, biomarker; HPA finds the RNA group enriched, which says where the protein sits but not whether the tumour differs from normal tissue. HPA SCN8A: RNA group enriched (brain 17 nTPM, pituitary gland 6 nTPM, retina 7 nTPM); no normal tissue stained high. Distribution: 1 cancer family in the corpus carries a prevalence row, label threshold or catalogue link for it (Lung cancer (all types)); Open Targets associates it with 0 specific cancer types at or above 0.5. (No rule of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts fired.)","specificitySources":[{"label":"Human Protein Atlas SCN8A tissue","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000196876-SCN8A/tissue","note":"RNA tissue and blood lineage specificity, normal tissue antibody staining (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000196876 associations","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000196876/associations","note":"cancer associations at or above 0.5 (CC0)"}],"hgnc":"HGNC:10596","ensembl":"ENSG00000196876","uniprot":"Q9UQD0","entrez":"6334","firstDescribed":1997,"firstDescribedBasis":"sequence","firstDescribedNote":"Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Plummer N.W. et al, J. Biol. Chem, 1997, \"Alternative splicing of the sodium channel SCN8A predicts a truncated two-domain protein in fetal brain and non-neuronal cells\".","firstDescribedSource":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9295353/","biology":"Pore-forming subunit of a voltage-gated sodium channel complex assuming opened or closed conformations in response to the voltage difference across membranes and through which sodium ions selectively pass along their electrochemical gradient. Contributes to neuronal excitability by regulating action potential threshold and propagation. More specifically expressed in non-neuronal cells, could play a role in sodium release from intracellular compartments and participate in the control of podosomes formation and macrophages adhesion and movement. Location: Cell membrane; Cell projection, axon; Cytoplasmic vesicle; Cell projection, podosome (UniProt). Locus 12q13.13 (HGNC).","whereFound":["Non-small-cell lung cancer: CIViC evidence names this disease"],"targetClass":"other","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/scn8a/","neighbours":{"collection":[{"id":"civic","kind":"collection","name":"CIViC","route":"/collections/civic/"},{"id":"open-targets","kind":"collection","name":"Open Targets Platform","route":"/collections/open-targets/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"nsclc","kind":"cancer","name":"Non-small-cell lung cancer","route":"/cancers/nsclc/"}]}}