Transmembrane protein 17 (TMEM17)

Transmembrane protein 17 (TMEM17) is a 198-amino acid protein encoded by the TMEM17 gene on human chromosome 2 and is localized to the ciliary membrane, particularly at the transition zone of primary cilia[3][9]. It is involved in the assembly of non-motile cilia and is predicted to be a component of the tectonic-like complex, which acts as a selective barrier between the cilium and the plasma membrane and participates in ciliogenesis and sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling[3][6][9]. TMEM17 mutations are associated with human ciliopathies such as Meckel syndrome[3], and expression changes have been implicated in cancer biology—specifically, decreased TMEM17 has been linked to poor prognosis in lung cancer, while increased TMEM17 promotes breast cancer progression via activation of the AKT/GSK3β/β-catenin pathway[2][4][6]. There are currently no approved drugs or therapeutic agents directly targeting TMEM17, and its principal role is structural and regulatory within ciliary biology, with emerging but incompletely defined roles in tumor biology[9].

Other names

TMEM17FLJ34583TMM17_HUMAN