Oncogenic MORC2 in cancer development and beyond

Shan Zhang; Ayao Guo; Huan Wang; Jia Liu; Chenshuang Dong; Junyi Ren; Guiling Wang

doi:10.1016/j.gendis.2023.05.010

Oncogenic MORC2 in cancer development and beyond

Genes Dis. 2023 Jul 3;11(2):861-873. doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2023.05.010. eCollection 2024 Mar.

Authors

Shan Zhang¹, Ayao Guo², Huan Wang¹, Jia Liu¹, Chenshuang Dong¹, Junyi Ren¹, Guiling Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Cell Biology, Ministry of Public Health and Key Laboratory of Medical Cell Biology, Ministry of Education, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110122, China.
² Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110001, China.

Abstract

Microrchidia CW-type zinc finger 2 (MORC2) is a member of the MORC superfamily of nuclear proteins. Growing evidence has shown that MORC2 not only participates in gene transcription and chromatin remodeling but also plays a key in human disease and tumor development by regulating the expression of downstream oncogenes or tumor suppressors. The present review provides an updated overview of MORC2 in the aspect of cancer hallmark and therapeutic resistance and summarizes its upstream regulators and downstream target genes. This systematic review may provide a favorable theoretical basis for emerging players of MORC2 in tumor development and new insight into the potential clinical application of basic science discoveries in the future.

Keywords: Cancer development; Hallmarks of cancer; MORC2; Therapeutic target; Treatment resistance.

Publication types

Review