# TYR

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

## TL;DR

TYR (Tyrosinase) is an enzyme. In the public catalogues the evidence so far is association rather than a proven role. Tied to Skin cancer, Melanoma and Basal cell carcinoma.

## Summary

This is a copper-containing oxidase that functions in the formation of pigments such as melanins and other polyphenolic compounds. Catalyses the initial and rate limiting step in the cascade of reactions leading to melanin production from tyrosine. In addition to hydroxylating tyrosine to DOPA (3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine), also catalyses the oxidation of DOPA to DOPA-quinone, and possibly the oxidation of DHI (5,6-dihydroxyindole) to indole-5,6 quinone.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.59 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.59, animal model 0.58, genetic association 0.74).

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: tyrosinase; Tyrosinase; OCAIA; OCA1A; OCA1
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: TYR
- Class: enzyme
- Biology: This is a copper-containing oxidase that functions in the formation of pigments such as melanins and other polyphenolic compounds. Catalyses the initial and rate limiting step in the cascade of reactions leading to melanin production from tyrosine. In addition to hydroxylating tyrosine to DOPA (3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine), also catalyses the oxidation of DOPA to DOPA-quinone, and possibly the oxidation of DHI (5,6-dihydroxyindole) to indole-5,6 quinone. Location: Melanosome membrane; Melanosome (UniProt). Locus 11q14.3 (HGNC).
- Where found: Skin cancer: Open Targets association 0.56 with skin cancer (MONDO_0002898); Melanoma: Open Targets association 0.59 with melanoma (MONDO_0005105); Basal cell carcinoma: Open Targets association 0.54 with basal cell carcinoma (MONDO_0020804)

## 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: none stated by the sources. Evidence tier "association-only" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:12442: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:12442
- UniProt P14679: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P14679/entry
- NCBI Gene 7299: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/7299
- Ensembl ENSG00000077498: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000077498

## Connected records

- collections: [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)
- cancers: [Basal cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/basal-cell-carcinoma/), [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Skin cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/skin-cancer/)

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