# AJUBA

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/ajuba/  
OnCo record `ajuba` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

AJUBA (LIM domain-containing protein ajuba) is a gene whose normal job is to hold cell growth in check. The public catalogues list it as a tumour suppressor, and it is called a cancer driver by mutation analysis of patient cohorts. Tied to Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

## Summary

Adapter or scaffold protein which participates in the assembly of numerous protein complexes and is involved in several cellular processes such as cell fate determination, cytoskeletal organisation, repression of gene transcription, mitosis, cell-cell adhesion, cell differentiation, proliferation and migration. Contributes to the linking and/or strengthening of epithelia cell-cell junctions in part by linking adhesive receptors to the actin cytoskeleton. May be involved in signal transduction from cell adhesion sites to the nucleus.

IntOGen calls it a driver in 1 cohort (0 activating, 1 loss-of-function), covering Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: ajuba LIM protein; LIM domain-containing protein ajuba; MGC15563
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: AJUBA
- Class: tumor-suppressor
- Biology: Adapter or scaffold protein which participates in the assembly of numerous protein complexes and is involved in several cellular processes such as cell fate determination, cytoskeletal organisation, repression of gene transcription, mitosis, cell-cell adhesion, cell differentiation, proliferation and migration. Contributes to the linking and/or strengthening of epithelia cell-cell junctions in part by linking adhesive receptors to the actin cytoskeleton. May be involved in signal transduction from cell adhesion sites to the nucleus. Plays an important role in regulation of the kinase activity of AURKA for mitotic commitment. Also a component of the IL-1 signalling pathway modulating IL-1-induced NFKB1 activation by influencing the assembly and activity of the PRKCZ-SQSTM1-TRAF6 multiprotein signalling complex. Functions as an HDAC-dependent corepressor for a subset of GFI1 target genes. Location: Cytoplasm, cytoskeleton; Cell membrane; Cell junction; Nucleus (UniProt). Locus 14q11.2 (HGNC).
- Where found: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (HNSC)

## 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: IntOGen calls it a loss-of-function (LoF) driver in 1 cohort. Evidence tier "cohort-driver" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:20250: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:20250
- UniProt Q96IF1: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q96IF1/entry
- NCBI Gene 84962: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/84962
- Ensembl ENSG00000129474: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000129474

## Connected records

- collections: [IntOGen](https://onco.cc/collections/intogen/)
- cancers: [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/ajuba.json