OnCo

WNK2 (Serine/threonine-protein kinase WNK2) is a protein kinase, an enzyme that switches other proteins on by adding phosphate groups. 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 Sarcomas, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Mesothelioma and 2 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

Serine/threonine-protein kinase component of the WNK2-SPAK/OSR1 kinase cascade, which plays an important role in the regulation of electrolyte homeostasis, cell signalling, survival, and proliferation. The WNK2-SPAK/OSR1 kinase cascade is composed of WNK2, which mediates phosphorylation and activation of downstream kinases OXSR1/OSR1 and STK39/SPAK. Following activation, OXSR1/OSR1 and STK39/SPAK catalyse phosphorylation of ion cotransporters, regulating their activity. Acts as an activator and inhibitor of sodium-coupled chloride cotransporters and potassium-coupled chloride cotransporters respectively. Activates SLC12A2, SCNN1A, SCNN1B, SCNN1D and SGK1 and inhibits SLC12A5. Negatively regulates the EGF-induced activation of the ERK/MAPK-pathway and the downstream cell cycle progression. Location: Cytoplasm; Cell membrane (UniProt). Locus 9q22.31 (HGNC).

Where it is found
  • Sarcomas: IntOGen driver in 2 cohorts (LMS)
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (HCC)
  • Mesothelioma: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (PLMESO)
  • Leiomyosarcoma: IntOGen driver in 2 cohorts (LMS)
  • Pleural mesothelioma: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (PLMESO)
Class: kinase · Gene: WNK2 · Facts checked 2026-09-23 · Target page

External identifiers

Built from HGNC, Ensembl, UniProt and ChEMBL ids

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Literature

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Query for this target: (TITLE:"WNK2" OR ABSTRACT:"WNK2" OR TITLE:"WNK lysine deficient protein kinase 2" OR ABSTRACT:"WNK lysine deficient protein kinase 2" OR TITLE:"Serine/threonine-protein kinase WNK2" OR ABSTRACT:"Serine/threonine-protein kinase WNK2" OR TITLE:"NY-CO-43" OR ABSTRACT:"NY-CO-43" OR TITLE:"KIAA1760" OR ABSTRACT:"KIAA1760" OR TITLE:"SDCCAG43" OR ABSTRACT:"SDCCAG43") 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 WNK2, not a curated reading list.

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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/wnk2.json. Licence CC BY-NC 4.0.