{"entity":{"id":"ep4","kind":"target","name":"EP4 (PTGER4)","aka":["EP4","prostaglandin E receptor 4","EP4 receptor"],"tldr":"EP4 is one of the receptors for prostaglandin E2, a signal many tumours release that quietens the immune cells around them. EP4 blockers are meant to lift that suppression, and two are in early trials, one with pembrolizumab.","summary":"PTGER4, the EP4 receptor (chromosome 5p13.1), is a receptor for prostaglandin E2 that signals through G(s) proteins to stimulate adenylate cyclase (UniProt P35408). A 2017 Oncoimmunology study described prostaglandin E2 as a powerful immunosuppressor in the tumour microenvironment acting through its four receptors, EP1 to EP4; the oral EP4-specific antagonist E7046 inhibited prostaglandin E2-driven pro-tumour myeloid cells and reduced or rejected established mouse tumours in a manner dependent on myeloid and CD8 T cells (Albu et al., doi:10.1080/2162402X.2017.1338239). In OnCo, INV-1120 is an EP4 antagonist tested alone and with pembrolizumab, and DT-9081 an oral EP4 antagonist aimed at prostaglandin E2 made by COX-2-positive tumours.","asOf":"2026-11-03","links":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:9596","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:9596"},{"label":"UniProt P35408","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P35408/entry"},{"label":"NCBI Gene 5734","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/5734"},{"label":"EP4 antagonism by E7046 diminishes myeloid immunosuppression (Oncoimmunology 2017)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1080/2162402X.2017.1338239"}],"tags":["pipeline-gap-target"],"related":[],"cancers":["metastatic-cancer"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["inv-1120","dt-9081"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Prevalence not recorded: HGNC, UniProt and the paper cited give no positivity rate."],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo gap audit, class 5 targets (HGNC REST, UniProt REST, Europe PMC, corpus drug records)","editedOn":"2026-11-03"},"symbol":"PTGER4","role":["drug-target"],"sources":[],"specificitySources":[],"hgnc":"HGNC:9596","ensembl":"ENSG00000171522","uniprot":"P35408","entrez":"5734","biology":"G protein-coupled receptor for prostaglandin E2 coupled to G(s) and cyclic AMP (UniProt P35408).","whereFound":["Myeloid cells in the tumour microenvironment (doi:10.1080/2162402X.2017.1338239)","Advanced solid tumours (INV-1120 and DT-9081 trials)"],"targetClass":"other","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/ep4/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"metastatic-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread)","route":"/cancers/metastatic-cancer/"}],"drug":[{"id":"dt-9081","kind":"drug","name":"DT-9081","route":"/drugs/dt-9081/"},{"id":"inv-1120","kind":"drug","name":"INV-1120","route":"/drugs/inv-1120/"}]}}