HomeAboutRankingsData Sources
© 2026 GeneE
🧬
GeneE
10 sources retrieved · Most recent: April 2026 · Index updated 14 days ago
ⓘGeneE is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
GPC2
glypican 2
Chromosome 7 · 7q22.1
NCBI Gene: 221914Ensembl: ENSG00000213420.9HGNC: HGNC:4450UniProt: Q8N158
23PubMed Papers
20Diseases
0Drugs
0Pathogenic Variants
DATA QUALITY
✓ Experimental GO Evidence✓ Swiss-Prot Reviewed
endoplasmic reticulumprotein bindingpositive regulation of neuron projection developmentcell migrationCOVID-19dengue diseaseneoplasmneuroblastoma
✦AI Summary

GPC2 (glypican 2) is a cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan involved in neurodevelopment and prominently expressed in multiple malignancies. 1 GPC2 is a GPI-anchored proteoglycan with functions related to cell migration and neuron projection development, particularly during fetal development. 2 In cancer biology, GPC2 serves as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker across multiple tumor types. 1 Pan-cancer analysis demonstrates that GPC2 is highly expressed in most malignancies (except pancreatic adenocarcinoma) and shows early diagnostic value in 16 tumor types, with expression significantly correlated to immune cell infiltration and DNA methylation patterns. 1 GPC2 has emerged as a critical therapeutic target in pediatric solid tumors, particularly high-risk neuroblastoma, which expresses clinically relevant GPC2 antigen density (~5,000 molecules/cell). 2 Engineered GPC2-directed CAR T cells demonstrate potent efficacy against neuroblastoma expressing native antigen densities without toxicity when optimized for low antigen threshold. 2 GPC2-CAR T cells also show activity against pediatric brain tumors including medulloblastomas and gliomas. 3 Recent advances incorporating cytokine co-expression and innate immune cell engagement further enhance GPC2-CAR T-cell function against high-burden disease. 4 GPC2 expression is tumor-specific, driven by E2F1 transcription factor activity, making it an attractive immunotherapeutic target. 5

Sources cited
1
GPC2 is a GPI-anchored proteoglycan highly expressed in most cancers; shows diagnostic value and is associated with immune infiltration and DNA methylation
PMID: 35345673
2
GPC2 is expressed on neuroblastoma at clinically relevant density (~5,000 molecules/cell); optimized GPC2-CAR T cells achieve potent efficacy without toxicity against native antigen density
PMID: 34971569
3
Neuroblastoma expresses cell-surface GPC2; GPC2-CAR T cells can be engineered with bispecific engagers to enhance antitumor immunity
PMID: 39164224
4
GPC2 is highly expressed across multiple pediatric brain tumors including medulloblastomas and gliomas; GPC2-directed mRNA CAR T cells show GPC2-specific activity with local delivery
PMID: 36167467
5
GPC2-CAR T cells engineered with NFAT-inducible IL15/IL21 enhance activity against high-burden neuroblastoma with improved tolerability
PMID: 40569285
6
Retinoblastoma expresses tumor-specific GPC2 driven by E2F1 transcription factor; GPC2-CAR T cells with 4-1BB costimulation are effective against intraocular and CNS metastatic disease
PMID: 38864848
Disease Associationsⓘ20
COVID-19Open Targets
0.54Moderate
dengue diseaseOpen Targets
0.46Moderate
neoplasmOpen Targets
0.11Weak
neuroblastomaOpen Targets
0.11Weak
cancerOpen Targets
0.10Suggestive
Nijmegen breakage syndromeOpen Targets
0.10Suggestive
small cell lung carcinomaOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
brain neoplasmOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
medulloblastomaOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
prostate cancerOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
Mobius syndromeOpen Targets
0.06Suggestive
catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardiaOpen Targets
0.05Suggestive
chronic lung diseaseOpen Targets
0.05Suggestive
Familial short QT syndromeOpen Targets
0.04Suggestive
chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseOpen Targets
0.04Suggestive
catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia 1Open Targets
0.04Suggestive
Brugada syndromeOpen Targets
0.04Suggestive
atrial conduction diseaseOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia 4Open Targets
0.03Suggestive
congenital adrenal hyperplasiaOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
Pathogenic Variants
No pathogenic variants reported on ClinVar for this gene.
View on ClinVar ↗
Related Genes
MDKProtein interaction79%SDC2Protein interaction78%SDC3Protein interaction75%SDC1Protein interaction70%GPC3Protein interaction58%GPC5Shared pathway33%
Tissue Expression6 tissues
Brain
100%
Bone Marrow
42%
Ovary
24%
Lung
6%
Heart
3%
Liver
2%
Gene Interaction Network
Click a node to explore
GPC2MDKSDC2SDC3SDC1GPC3GPC5
PROTEIN STRUCTURE
Preparing viewer…
PDB6WJL · 3.30 Å · X-ray
View on RCSB ↗
Constraintⓘ
LOEUFⓘ
1.08LoF Tolerant
pLIⓘ
0.00Tolerant
Observed/Expected LoF0.84 [0.65–1.08]
RankingsWhere GPC2 stands among ~20K protein-coding genes
  • #13,425of 20,598
    Most Researched23
  • #11,020of 17,882
    Most Constrained (LOEUF)1.08
Genes detectedGPC2
Sources retrieved10 papers
Response time—
📄 Sources
10▼
1
Revised Neuroblastoma Risk Classification System: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group.
PMID: 34319759
J Clin Oncol · 2021
1.00
2
GPC2 Is a Potential Diagnostic, Immunological, and Prognostic Biomarker in Pan-Cancer.
PMID: 35345673
Front Immunol · 2022
0.90
3
CAR T-cell-mediated delivery of bispecific innate immune cell engagers for neuroblastoma.
PMID: 39164224
Nat Commun · 2024
0.80
4
GPC2-CAR T cells tuned for low antigen density mediate potent activity against neuroblastoma without toxicity.
PMID: 34971569
Cancer Cell · 2022
0.70
5
rhIL-7-hyFc, a long-acting interleukin-7, improves efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy in solid tumors.
PMID: 39043602
J Immunother Cancer · 2024
0.60