# ARHGEF12

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/arhgef12/  
OnCo record `arhgef12` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

ARHGEF12 (Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 12) is a gene whose normal job is to hold cell growth in check. The public catalogues list it as an oncogene driver, a tumour suppressor and a fusion partner, and it is called a cancer driver by mutation analysis of patient cohorts. Tied to Breast cancer, Renal cell carcinoma, Skin cancer and 5 more.

## Summary

Acts as guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for RhoA GTPase and may act as GTPase-activating protein (GAP) for GNA12 and GNA13. May play a role in the regulation of RhoA GTPase by guanine nucleotide-binding alpha-12 (GNA12) and alpha-13 (GNA13). Promotes endothelial cell and actin stress fibre reorientation in response to mechanotransduction.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.65 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.92, genetic association 0.16, somatic mutation 0.83). IntOGen calls it a driver in 2 cohorts (1 activating, 1 loss-of-function), covering Invasive Breast Carcinoma, Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor 12; KIAA0382
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: ARHGEF12
- Class: tumor-suppressor
- Biology: Acts as guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for RhoA GTPase and may act as GTPase-activating protein (GAP) for GNA12 and GNA13. May play a role in the regulation of RhoA GTPase by guanine nucleotide-binding alpha-12 (GNA12) and alpha-13 (GNA13). Promotes endothelial cell and actin stress fibre reorientation in response to mechanotransduction. Location: Cytoplasm; Membrane (UniProt). Locus 11q23.3 (HGNC).
- Where found: Breast cancer: Open Targets association 0.54 with breast cancer (MONDO_0007254); IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (BRCA); Renal cell carcinoma: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (CCRCC); Skin cancer: Open Targets association 0.57 with skin cancer (MONDO_0002898); Colorectal cancer: Open Targets association 0.52 with colorectal cancer (MONDO_0005575); Lung cancer: Open Targets association 0.51 with lung cancer (MONDO_0008903); Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer: Open Targets association 0.51 with gastric cancer (MONDO_0001056)

## 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 an activating (Act) driver in 1 cohort; IntOGen calls it a loss-of-function (LoF) driver in 1 cohort; UniProt disease notes describe a translocation or gene fusion involving the gene. Evidence tier "cohort-driver" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:14193: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:14193
- UniProt Q9NZN5: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q9NZN5/entry
- NCBI Gene 23365: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/23365
- Ensembl ENSG00000196914: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000196914

## Connected records

- collections: [IntOGen](https://onco.cc/collections/intogen/), [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)
- cancers: [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/), [Clear cell renal cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/clear-cell-rcc/), [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/), [Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/gastric/), [Lung cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/lung-cancer/), [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Renal cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/rcc/), [Skin cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/skin-cancer/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/arhgef12.json