KLF4
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.
Overview
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.
CIViC holds 1 clinical evidence item and 0 assertions across 1 variant. Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.70 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 1.00, animal model 0.47, genetic association 0.57, somatic mutation 0.82). IntOGen calls it a driver in 5 cohorts (3 activating, 1 loss-of-function), covering Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, Invasive Breast Carcinoma, Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
- Target · the protein and the cell it sits on
- Drug · antibody, small molecule, cell or radioligand
- Effect · signal, damage or kill
In plain words · 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.
- 1 · What it is
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.
- 2 · What goes wrong in cancer
Transcription factor; can act both as activator and as repressor. Binds the 5'-CACCC-3' core sequence.
- 3 · How drugs use it
No product in this corpus aims at KLF4 yet. Transcription factors have no pocket to plug, so drugs either degrade them or block the partner protein they need to dock on DNA.
External identifiers
Sources: HGNC HGNC:6348 (approved symbol, name, aliases, locus and cross-references (hgnc_complete_set.txt)); UniProt O43474 (protein name, function text, keywords and locations (REST API)); CIViC gene KLF4 (1 evidence items, 0 assertions, 1 variants; diseases: (GraphQL API, CC0)); Open Targets ENSG00000136826 (association with cancer (MONDO_0004992) 0.70; per-cancer scores at or above 0.5: prostate cancer 0.50, melanoma 0.51, skin cancer 0.51, breast cancer 0.56 (GraphQL API, CC0)); IntOGen KLF4 (driver in 5 cohorts (Act 3, LoF 1); Compendium_Cancer_Genes.tsv release 20240920, CC0 1.0)
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).
- 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)
Notes
top- 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 1 cohort; CIViC holds 1 clinical evidence items on its variants. Evidence tier "clinical-evidence" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.
Latest papers
topQuery 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.