OnCo

KLF4 (Krueppel-like factor 4) is a protein that switches other genes on and off. The public catalogues list it as an oncogene driver, a tumour suppressor and a biomarker, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response. Tied to Breast cancer, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Skin cancer and 3 more. This dossier gathers the 0 products (0 approved), 0 trials, 0 pathways and 0 resistance routes in the corpus that involve it, with external identifiers so it can be joined to UniProt, ChEMBL, Open Targets and the rest of biology.

Biology

Transcription factor; can act both as activator and as repressor. Binds the 5'-CACCC-3' core sequence. Binds to the promoter region of its own gene and can activate its own transcription. Regulates the expression of key transcription factors during embryonic development. Plays an important role in maintaining embryonic stem cells, and in preventing their differentiation. Required for establishing the barrier function of the skin and for postnatal maturation and maintenance of the ocular surface. Location: Nucleus; Cytoplasm (UniProt). Locus 9q31.2 (HGNC).

Where it is found
  • Breast cancer: Open Targets association 0.56 with breast cancer (MONDO_0007254); IntOGen driver in 3 cohorts (BRCA)
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (HCC)
  • Skin cancer: Open Targets association 0.51 with skin cancer (MONDO_0002898)
  • Prostate cancer: Open Targets association 0.50 with prostate cancer (MONDO_0008315)
  • Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (ALL)
  • Melanoma: Open Targets association 0.51 with melanoma (MONDO_0005105)
Class: transcription · Gene: KLF4 · Facts checked 2026-09-23 · Target page

External identifiers

Built from HGNC, Ensembl, UniProt and ChEMBL ids

Products by modality and phase

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Resistance routes

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No pathway diagram carries this target as a node.

Companion diagnostics

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Preclinical models

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Literature

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Query for this target: (TITLE:"KLF4" OR ABSTRACT:"KLF4" OR TITLE:"KLF transcription factor 4" OR ABSTRACT:"KLF transcription factor 4" OR TITLE:"Krueppel-like factor 4" OR ABSTRACT:"Krueppel-like factor 4") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about KLF4, not a curated reading list.

Export

The dossier as machine-readable JSON: identifiers from HGNC, Ensembl, UniProt and ChEMBL, products with status, trials, pathways, hotspots, open questions and assays. The full entity record is in the open API at /api/v1/entities/klf4.json. Licence CC BY-NC 4.0.