PR domain-containing protein 14 (PRDM14)

PR domain-containing protein 14 (PRDM14) is a transcription factor and epigenetic regulator that plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of pluripotency and the specification of the germ cell lineage [2, 5]. It functions by orchestrating complex epigenetic reprogramming events, including global DNA demethylation and the modulation of histone marks, often through interactions with Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) and TET proteins [8, 12, 15]. While its expression is highly restricted to embryonic stages and germ cells in healthy individuals, PRDM14 is frequently aberrantly overexpressed in various human cancers, such as breast, pancreatic, and lung malignancies [1, 4, 31]. In these contexts, it acts as an oncogenic driver by promoting cancer stem cell characteristics, enhancing cell survival, and contributing to chemoresistance [2, 20, 27]. Consequently, PRDM14 has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for the development of novel anti-cancer strategies [1, 20]. Current clinical development focuses on inhibiting its activity using RNA interference, with the siRNA drug candidate SRN-14 (GL2-800) undergoing evaluation in phase I trials for refractory breast cancer [20, 21].

Other names

PR domain zinc finger protein 14PR/SET domain 14PFM11PR domain-containing 14

siRNA-mediated knockdown of PRDM14 mRNA, which inhibits the expression of the PRDM14 protein and subsequently suppresses cancer stem cell properties and tumor progression [20, 21].