ONGene
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Gene information | Literature | Expression | lncRNA | Mutation | Homolog

Basic Information

Gene ID

2020

Name

EN2

Synonymous

engrailed homeobox 2;EN2;engrailed homeobox 2

Definition

engrailed homolog 2|engrailed-2|homeobox protein en-2|homeobox protein engrailed-2|hu-En-2

Position

7q36

Gene type

protein-coding

Title

Abstract

EN2 is a candidate oncogene in human breast cancer.

Only a few critical oncogenes have been identified in the more commonly occurring cases of sporadic breast cancer. We provide evidence that EN2 is ectopically expressed in a subset of human breast cancer and may have a causal role in mammary tumorigenesis. Nontumorigenic mammary cell lines engineered to ectopically express En-2 have a marked reduction in their cycling time, lose cell contact inhibition, become sensitive to 17-AAG treatment, fail to differentiate when exposed to lactogenic hormones and induce mammary tumors when transplanted into cleared mammary glands of syngeneic hosts. RNA interference studies suggest that EN2 expression is required for the maintenance of the transformed phenotype of a human breast tumor cell line.