Proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2) has been identified as the single causative gene for a group of paroxysmal syndromes of infancy, including epilepsy, paroxysmal movement disorders, and migraine. On the basis of topology predictions, PRRT2 has been assigned to the recently characterized family of Dispanins, whose members share the two-transmembrane domain topology with a large N terminus and short C terminus oriented toward the outside of the cell. Because PRRT2 plays a role at the synapse, it is important to confirm the exact orientation of its N and C termini with respect to the plasma membrane to get clues regarding its possible function. Using a combination of different experimental approaches, including live immunolabeling, immunogold electron microscopy, surface biotinylation and computational modeling, we demonstrate a novel topology for this protein. PRRT2 is a type II transmembrane protein in which only the second hydrophobic segment spans the plasma membrane, whereas the first one is associated with the internal surface of the membrane and forms a helix-loop-helix structure without crossing it. Most importantly, the large proline-rich N-terminal domain is not exposed to the extracellular space but is localized intracellularly, and only the short C terminus is extracellular (N cyt /C exo topology). Accordingly, we show that PRRT2 interacts with the Src homology 3 domain-bearing protein Intersectin 1, an intracellular protein involved in synaptic vesicle cycling. These findings will contribute to the clarification of the role of PRRT2 at the synapse and the understanding of pathogenic mechanisms on the basis of PRRT2-related neurological disorders.Proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2) is encoded by a gene that has been shown recently to be the single causative gene for a group of paroxysmal syndromes of infancy, including benign familial infantile seizures, infantile convulsion choreoathetosis, migraine, hemiplegic migraine, and paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia/choreoathetosis. A large number of PRRT2 nonsense, frameshift, and missense mutations have been associated with diseases with a variable phenotypic spectrum, ranging from mild forms that improve with age to severe phenotypes (1-5).The PRRT2 gene encodes for a protein highly conserved across species, with an average of 80% similarity across mammals and 30% with zebrafish. The sequence similarity increases in the C-terminal region containing the predicted transmembrane domains, becoming over 90% in mammals and 60% in zebrafish (6). On the basis of topology prediction, PRRT2 has been assigned to the newly characterized large family of Dispanins, whose members share the two-transmembrane domain topology and include the subfamily of interferon-induced transmembrane proteins.The putative topology of the Dispanins has been described as two transmembrane helices in the C-terminal region, separated by an intracellular loop of variable length, and an often long N-terminal region (Ͼ100 amino acids) compared with a short C-terminal region (...