EN2 (gene)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Engrailed homeobox 2
Identifiers
SymbolsEN2; AUTS1
External IDsOMIM: 131310 MGI: 95390 HomoloGene: 55579 GeneCards: EN2 Gene
RNA expression pattern
More reference expression data
Orthologs
SpeciesHumanMouse
Entrez202013799
EnsemblENSG00000164778ENSMUSG00000039095
UniProtP19622P09066
RefSeq (mRNA)NM_001427NM_010134
RefSeq (protein)NP_001418NP_034264
Location (UCSC)Chr 7:
155.25 – 155.26 Mb
Chr 5:
28.17 – 28.17 Mb
PubMed search

Homeobox protein engrailed-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the EN2 gene.[1]

Function

Homeobox-containing genes are thought to have a role in controlling development. In Drosophila, the 'engrailed' (en) gene plays an important role during development in segmentation, where it is required for the formation of posterior compartments. Different mutations in the mouse homologs, En1 and En2, produced different developmental defects that frequently are lethal. The human engrailed homologs 1 and 2 encode homeodomain-containing proteins and have been implicated in the control of pattern formation during development of the central nervous system.[1]

In cancer diagnosis

A method for diagnosing prostate cancer by detection of EN2 in urine has developed. The results of a clinical trial of 288 men suggest that EN2 could be a marker for prostate cancer which might prove more reliable than current methods that use prostate-specific antigen (PSA). If effective, a urine test is considered easier and less embarrassing for the patient than blood tests or rectal examinations and, therefore, less likely to discourage early diagnosis. At the time of the report, it was not clear whether or not the EN2 test could distinguish between aggressive tumours that would require intervention and relatively benign ones that would not.[2]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Entrez Gene: EN2 engrailed homeobox 2". 
  2. Morgan R, Boxall A, Bhatt A, Bailey M, Hindley R, Langley S, Whitaker HC, Neal DE, Ismail M, Whitaker H, Annels N, Michael A, Pandha H (March 2011). "Engrailed-2 (EN2): a tumor specific urinary biomarker for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer". Clin. Cancer Res. 17 (5): 1090–8. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-10-2410. PMID 21364037. Lay summary BBC News. 


Further reading

External links

This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine, which is in the public domain.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.