TMEM18 is a 140 amino acid multi-pass membrane protein that localizes to the nuclear membrane and is expressed in the brain. TMEM18 functions as a cell migration modulator which enhances the glioma-specific migration ability of neural precursor and neural stem cells.Overexpression of TMEM18 increases migration of human and murine neural stem cells, whereas knockdown of TMEM18 mRNA reduces cellular migration. Two specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the TMEM18 gene locus known as rs6548238 and rs756131 have been linked to obesity susceptibility.