Suppression of tumorigenicity 18 protein (ST18)

Suppression of tumorigenicity 18 protein (ST18) is a C2H2-type zinc finger transcription factor that plays multifaceted roles in regulating cell survival, proliferation, and inflammation. ST18 functions as a sequence-specific transcriptional repressor, found predominantly in the nucleus and binding to bipartite DNA elements where it modulates transcription by RNA polymerase II[3]. In cancer, ST18 acts as a tumor suppressor; its expression is typically low in healthy mammary tissue due to promoter hypermethylation, and restoration of ST18 inhibits tumorigenicity by promoting expression of proapoptotic and proinflammatory genes[1]. In autoimmune skin disease such as pemphigus vulgaris, overexpression of ST18 in keratinocytes—driven by genetic variants—leads to heightened cytokine secretion and loss of cell–cell adhesion, exacerbating pathology. In the pancreas, ST18 is upregulated in β-cells in response to cytotoxic and inflammatory stimuli, increasing apoptosis and impairing insulin secretion. Genetic variants in ST18 have also been linked to structural brain changes in Alzheimer's disease, and ST18 has emerging value as a biomarker for residual disease in childhood acute myeloid leukemia[1][3]. No approved drugs targeting ST18 are currently known, and no established mechanisms of drug action or direct drug interactions have been described for this protein.

Other names

ST18KIAA0535ZNF387ZC2HC10NZF3NZF-3ZC2H2C3Zinc finger protein 387neural zinc finger transcription factor 3