WFDC2

WAP four-disulfide core domain 2
Identifiers
Symbols WFDC2 ; EDDM4; HE4; WAP5; dJ461P17.6
External IDs MGI: 1914951 HomoloGene: 4450 GeneCards: WFDC2 Gene
RNA expression pattern
More reference expression data
Orthologs
Species Human Mouse
Entrez 10406 67701
Ensembl ENSG00000101443 ENSMUSG00000017723
UniProt Q14508 Q9DAU7
RefSeq (mRNA) NM_006103 NM_026323
RefSeq (protein) NP_006094 NP_080599
Location (UCSC) Chr 20:
45.47 – 45.48 Mb
Chr 2:
164.56 – 164.57 Mb
PubMed search

WAP four-disulfide core domain protein 2 - also known as Human Epididymis Protein 4[1] (HE4) - is a protein that in humans is encoded by the WFDC2 gene.[2][3][4]

HE4 is a tumor marker of ovarian cancer, with 80% sensitivity at a cut-off of 150 pmol/L.[5]

Function

This gene encodes a protein that is a member of the WFDC domain family. The WFDC domain, or WAP Signature motif, contains eight cysteines forming four disulfide bonds at the core of the protein, and functions as a protease inhibitor in many family members. This gene is expressed in pulmonary epithelial cells, and was also found to be expressed in some ovarian cancers.[1] The encoded protein is a small secretory protein, which may be involved in sperm maturation.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Hellström I, Raycraft J, Hayden-Ledbetter M, Ledbetter JA, Schummer M, McIntosh M, Drescher C, Urban N, Hellström KE (2003-07-01). "The HE4 (WFDC2) Protein Is a Biomarker for Ovarian Carcinoma". Cancer Research 63 (13): 3695–3700. PMID 12839961. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
  2. Kirchhoff C, Habben I, Ivell R, Krull N (Mar 1992). "A major human epididymis-specific cDNA encodes a protein with sequence homology to extracellular proteinase inhibitors". Biol Reprod 45 (2): 350–7. doi:10.1095/biolreprod45.2.350. PMID 1686187.
  3. Schummer M, Ng WV, Bumgarner RE, Nelson PS, Schummer B, Bednarski DW, Hassell L, Baldwin RL, Karlan BY, Hood L (Dec 1999). "Comparative hybridization of an array of 21,500 ovarian cDNAs for the discovery of genes overexpressed in ovarian carcinomas". Gene 238 (2): 375–85. doi:10.1016/S0378-1119(99)00342-X. PMID 10570965.
  4. 1 2 "Entrez Gene: WFDC2 WAP four-disulfide core domain 2".
  5. Molina R, Escudero JM, Augé JM, Filella X, Foj L, Torné A, Lejarcegui J, Pahisa J (2011). "HE4 a novel tumour marker for ovarian cancer: Comparison with CA 125 and ROMA algorithm in patients with gynaecological diseases". Tumor Biology 32 (6): 1087–95. doi:10.1007/s13277-011-0204-3. PMC 3195682. PMID 21863264.

Further reading


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