# BRD4

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/brd4/  
OnCo record `brd4` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

BRD4 is a reader protein that docks on acetylated DNA packaging and pulls in the machinery that switches growth genes such as MYC on. BET inhibitors such as pelabresib and ZEN-3694 block that docking; in NUT carcinoma the cancer's own driver is a BRD4 fusion.

## Summary

BRD4 (chromosome 19p13.12) is a chromatin reader of the BET (bromodomain and extra-terminal) family that binds acetylated histones, stays on chromatin through the cell cycle to preserve epigenetic memory and higher-order chromatin structure, and recruits the P-TEFb elongation complex to promoters and to distal enhancers to drive transcription of signal-inducible genes (UniProt O60885). In OnCo, BET inhibitors include pelabresib (phase 3 in primary myelofibrosis) and ZEN-3694, which binds the bromodomains of BRD2, BRD3 and BRD4 and is being tested in NUT carcinoma, prostate and triple-negative breast cancer; fedratinib carries BRD4 activity alongside JAK2 and FLT3; and NUT carcinoma is driven by a BRD4-NUT fusion, itself a BET protein, that the inhibitors displace from chromatin so the cells differentiate.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Also known as: BET; BET bromodomain proteins (BRD2, BRD3, BRD4, BRDT); bromodomain containing 4; MCAP; HUNK1
- Tags: wave5-target
- Symbol: BRD4
- Class: transcription
- Biology: The ZEN-3694 record describes BET inhibitors as blocking the bromodomain proteins that switch on growth genes such as MYC, with objective but short-lived responses in early NUT carcinoma trials of molibresib and birabresib; the epigenetic-reprogramming pathway record lists BET proteins among the chromatin readers hijacked in cancer.
- Where found: NUT carcinoma (BRD4-NUT fusion); Primary myelofibrosis (pelabresib); Castration-resistant prostate cancer and triple-negative breast cancer (ZEN-3694 trials)

## Notes

- Prevalence not recorded in this wave: HGNC and UniProt carry no positivity rates and no other source was consulted.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:13575: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:13575
- UniProt O60885: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/O60885/entry
- NCBI Gene 23476: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/23476

## Connected records

- pathways: [Epigenetic reprogramming](https://onco.cc/pathways/epigenetic-reprogramming/), [MYC](https://onco.cc/pathways/myc/), [Transcriptional machinery & addiction](https://onco.cc/pathways/transcription-addiction/)
- targets: [JAK2](https://onco.cc/targets/jak2/)
- cancers: [NUT carcinoma (midline carcinoma with NUTM1 rearrangement)](https://onco.cc/cancers/nut-carcinoma/), [Primary myelofibrosis](https://onco.cc/cancers/primary-myelofibrosis/), [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/), [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/)
- technologies: [Epigenetic drugs (HDAC, DNMT, EZH2, IDH, menin, BET)](https://onco.cc/technologies/epigenetic-drugs/)
- drugs: [Fedratinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/fedratinib/), [Pelabresib](https://onco.cc/drugs/pelabresib/), [ZEN-3694](https://onco.cc/drugs/zen-3694/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/brd4.json