Synaptic vesicles are organelles situated at the distal terminus of the presynaptic neuron. The exocytosis of these vesicles requires docking at the plasma membrane, priming, and fusion. Fusion is mediated by a complex consisting of membrane components of both the synaptic vesicle and the synaptic plasma membrane. The fusion complex consists of the soluble NSF (N-ethyl-maleimide-sensitive factor), SNAPs (soluble NSF attachment proteins), and receptor proteins (SNAREs) that include synaptobrevin, synaptotagmin, syntaxin, and SNAP-25 (synaptosomal-associated protein of 25kDa). Syntaxin-1 is a key component of the synaptic vesicle docking/fusion machinery which forms the SNARE complex with SNAP-25 and synaptobrevin. Syntaphilin is a brain-specific membrane-associated protein that can inhibit SNARE complex formation by binding free syntaxin-1.