# ARNT

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

## TL;DR

ARNT (Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator) is a gene whose normal job is to hold cell growth in check. The public catalogues list it as a drug target and a tumour suppressor, and an approved or late-stage drug is recorded against it. Tied to Skin cancer, Breast cancer, Small-cell lung cancer and 1 more.

## Summary

Transcription factor that functions as an obligate heterodimerisation partner for several basic helix-loop-helix PER-ARNT-SIM (bHLH-PAS) proteins. Forms heterodimers with the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) to mediate the transcriptional response to xenobiotics by binding xenobiotic response elements (XREs) or dioxin response elements (DREs) in target gene promoters. Also heterodimerises with hypoxia-inducible factor alpha subunits (HIF1A, EPAS1, NPAS1 or NPAS3) to form hypoxia-inducible transcription factors that bind hypoxia response elements (HREs) and activate genes involved in cellular and systemic responses to hypoxia, including angiogenesis, erythropoiesis, and metabolic adaptation.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.65 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.91, genetic association 0.23, somatic mutation 0.81). IntOGen calls it a driver in 1 cohort (0 activating, 1 loss-of-function), covering Small Cell Lung Cancer. In OnCo, 1 product record names it (Belzutifan).

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator; Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator; HIF1B; HIF-1beta; bHLHe2; ARNT1
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: ARNT
- Class: tumor-suppressor
- Biology: Transcription factor that functions as an obligate heterodimerisation partner for several basic helix-loop-helix PER-ARNT-SIM (bHLH-PAS) proteins. Forms heterodimers with the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) to mediate the transcriptional response to xenobiotics by binding xenobiotic response elements (XREs) or dioxin response elements (DREs) in target gene promoters. Also heterodimerises with hypoxia-inducible factor alpha subunits (HIF1A, EPAS1, NPAS1 or NPAS3) to form hypoxia-inducible transcription factors that bind hypoxia response elements (HREs) and activate genes involved in cellular and systemic responses to hypoxia, including angiogenesis, erythropoiesis, and metabolic adaptation. Plays a central role in environmental sensing and developmental and physiological regulation of gene expression. Location: Nucleus (UniProt). Locus 1q21.3 (HGNC).
- Where found: Skin cancer: Open Targets association 0.56 with skin cancer (MONDO_0002898); Breast cancer: Open Targets association 0.51 with breast cancer (MONDO_0007254); Small-cell lung cancer: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (SCLC); Melanoma: Open Targets association 0.56 with melanoma (MONDO_0005105)

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

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:700: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:700
- UniProt P27540: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P27540/entry
- NCBI Gene 405: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/405
- Ensembl ENSG00000143437: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000143437

## 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/), [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Skin cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/skin-cancer/), [Small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/sclc/)
- drugs: [Belzutifan](https://onco.cc/drugs/belzutifan/)
- pathways: [VHL / HIF oxygen sensing](https://onco.cc/pathways/hif-vhl/)

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