# MYH9

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/myh9/  
OnCo record `myh9` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

MYH9 (Myosin-9) is a gene whose normal job is to hold cell growth in check. The public catalogues list it as an oncogene driver and a tumour suppressor, and it is called a cancer driver by mutation analysis of patient cohorts. Tied to Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Breast cancer, Colorectal cancer and 5 more.

## Summary

Cellular myosin that appears to play a role in cytokinesis, cell shape, and specialised functions such as secretion and capping. Required for cortical actin clearance prior to oocyte exocytosis. Promotes cell motility in conjunction with S100A4.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.74 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes affected pathway 0.57, literature 0.99, genetic association 0.00, somatic mutation 0.88, animal model 0.59). IntOGen calls it a driver in 11 cohorts (3 activating, 8 loss-of-function), covering Basal Cell Carcinoma, Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma, Invasive Breast Carcinoma, Colorectal Adenocarcinoma, Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma, Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma and others.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: myosin heavy chain 9; Myosin-9; NMMHCA; NMHC-II-A; EPSTS; DFNA17
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: MYH9
- Class: tumor-suppressor
- Biology: Cellular myosin that appears to play a role in cytokinesis, cell shape, and specialised functions such as secretion and capping. Required for cortical actin clearance prior to oocyte exocytosis. Promotes cell motility in conjunction with S100A4. During cell spreading, plays an important role in cytoskeleton reorganisation, focal contact formation (in the margins but not the central part of spreading cells), and lamellipodial retraction; this function is mechanically antagonised by MYH10. Location: Cytoplasm, cytoskeleton; Cytoplasm, cell cortex; Cytoplasmic vesicle, secretory vesicle, Cortical granule; Cell membrane (UniProt). Locus 22q12.3 (HGNC).
- Where found: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: IntOGen driver in 2 cohorts (HNSC); Breast cancer: Open Targets association 0.59 with breast cancer (MONDO_0007254); IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (BRCA); Colorectal cancer: Open Targets association 0.54 with colorectal cancer (MONDO_0005575); IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (COADREAD); Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer: Open Targets association 0.54 with gastric cancer (MONDO_0001056); IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (STOMACH); Ovarian cancer: Open Targets association 0.54 with ovarian cancer (MONDO_0008170); IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (OVT); Bladder & urothelial cancer: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (BLCA)

## 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 3 cohorts; IntOGen calls it a loss-of-function (LoF) driver in 8 cohorts. Evidence tier "cohort-driver" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:7579: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:7579
- UniProt P35579: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P35579/entry
- NCBI Gene 4627: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/4627
- Ensembl ENSG00000100345: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000100345

## Connected records

- collections: [IntOGen](https://onco.cc/collections/intogen/), [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)
- cancers: [Bladder & urothelial cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/urothelial/), [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/), [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/), [Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/gastric/), [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/), [Lung cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/lung-cancer/), [Oesophageal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/esophageal/), [Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/myh9.json