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10 sources retrieved · Most recent: April 2026 · Index updated 14 days ago
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ICMT
isoprenylcysteine carboxyl methyltransferase
Chromosome 1 · 1p36.31
NCBI Gene: 23463Ensembl: ENSG00000116237.16HGNC: HGNC:5350UniProt: B3KS61
77PubMed Papers
20Diseases
0Drugs
0Pathogenic Variants
DATA QUALITY
✓ Experimental GO Evidence✓ Swiss-Prot Reviewed
endoplasmic reticulumprotein bindingprotein C-terminal S-isoprenylcysteine carboxyl O-methyltransferase activityendoplasmic reticulum membranecanceratrioventricular blockcardiac arrhythmiaartificial cardiac pacemaker
✦AI Summary

ICMT (isoprenylcysteine carboxyl methyltransferase) catalyzes the post-translational methylation of isoprenylated C-terminal cysteine residues, representing the final enzymatic step in the prenylation pathway 1. This modification is essential for proper membrane localization of CAAX motif-containing proteins, particularly oncoproteins like Ras, and CXC-class Rab proteins 1. ICMT activity is critical for normal development, as ICMT-deficient embryos are embryonic lethal, though conditional tissue-specific inactivation shows no obvious pathology 1. ICMT promotes cancer progression through multiple mechanisms. ICMT overexpression enhances lung metastasis in vivo and promotes cellular invasion and migration through enhanced invadopodia formation 2. In hepatocellular carcinoma, ICMT is overexpressed in ~70% of tumors and drives growth, survival, migration, and chemoresistance via Ras/Raf/Mek/Erk signaling and epithelial-mesenchymal transition 3. ICMT inhibition shows promise as an anti-cancer strategy, with selective ICMT inhibitors blocking Ras-induced oncogenic transformation 14. Beyond cancer, ICMT inhibitors delay cellular senescence in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome by blocking progerin methylation and improve survival in disease models 5. These findings establish ICMT as a therapeutic target across multiple pathologies.

Sources cited
1
ICMT catalyzes carboxyl methylation as the final step of prenylation, is essential for Ras membrane localization and development, and its inhibition blocks Ras-induced transformation
PMID: 16757321
2
ICMT overexpression promotes lung metastasis, enhances invadopodia formation, and correlates with poor clinical outcomes in multiple cancer types
PMID: 38301884
3
ICMT is overexpressed in ~70% of hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and promotes growth, survival, migration, and chemoresistance through Ras/Raf/Mek/Erk and EMT pathways
PMID: 31451223
4
ICMT inhibitors exhibit promising anti-cancer activity against various cancer cell lines by modulating Ras signaling
PMID: 28631011
5
ICMT inhibition delays senescence in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome cells and improves survival in HGPS mouse models
PMID: 33526168
6
Substrate-based ICMT inhibitors with novel scaffolds show low micromolar inhibitory activity against human ICMT
PMID: 21782433
Disease Associationsⓘ20
cancerOpen Targets
0.38Weak
atrioventricular blockOpen Targets
0.37Weak
cardiac arrhythmiaOpen Targets
0.28Weak
artificial cardiac pacemakerOpen Targets
0.04Suggestive
oral squamous cell carcinomaOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
Hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin - beta-thalassemiaOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin-beta-thalassemia syndromeOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
atrial fibrillationOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
ovarian cancerOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
nasopharyngeal carcinomaOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
neoplasmOpen Targets
0.02Suggestive
hepatocellular carcinomaOpen Targets
0.02Suggestive
heart failureOpen Targets
0.02Suggestive
hypertrophic cardiomyopathyOpen Targets
0.02Suggestive
cervical cancerOpen Targets
0.02Suggestive
acute myeloid leukemiaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
allergic rhinitisOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
chronic myelogenous leukemiaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
tongue squamous cell carcinomaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
glioblastomaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
Pathogenic Variants
No pathogenic variants reported on ClinVar for this gene.
View on ClinVar ↗
Related Genes
NACAShared pathway100%NACADShared pathway100%GOLGA7BShared pathway100%NACA2Shared pathway100%ZDHHC24Shared pathway100%ZMPSTE24Protein interaction100%
Tissue Expression6 tissues
Heart
100%
Brain
65%
Lung
37%
Liver
31%
Ovary
19%
Bone Marrow
14%
Gene Interaction Network
Click a node to explore
ICMTNACANACADGOLGA7BNACA2ZDHHC24ZMPSTE24
PROTEIN STRUCTURE
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AlphaFoldAI-predicted · UniProt O60725
View on AlphaFold ↗
Constraintⓘ
LOEUFⓘ
0.60LoF Tolerant
pLIⓘ
0.74Intermediate
Observed/Expected LoF0.36 [0.22–0.60]
RankingsWhere ICMT stands among ~20K protein-coding genes
  • #6,166of 20,598
    Most Researched77
  • #4,164of 17,882
    Most Constrained (LOEUF)0.60 · top quartile
Genes detectedICMT
Sources retrieved10 papers
Response time—
📄 Sources
10▼
1
Proapoptotic Bcl-2 inhibitor as potential host directed therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis.
PMID: 40148277
Nat Commun · 2025
1.00
2
Isoprenylcysteine carboxyl methyltransferase (ICMT) promotes invadopodia formation and metastasis in cancer cells.
PMID: 38301884
Biochimie · 2024
0.90
3
Lipid and sulfur substituted prenylcysteine analogs as human Icmt inhibitors.
PMID: 21782433
Bioorg Med Chem Lett · 2011
0.80
4
Isoprenyl carboxyl methyltransferase inhibitors: a brief review including recent patents.
PMID: 28631011
Amino Acids · 2017
0.70
5
Genetic and pharmacologic analyses of the role of Icmt in Ras membrane association and function.
PMID: 16757321
Methods Enzymol · 2006
0.60