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10 sources retrieved · Most recent: April 2026 · Index updated 14 days ago
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LY6K
lymphocyte antigen 6 family member K
Chromosome 8 · 8q24.3
NCBI Gene: 54742Ensembl: ENSG00000160886.13HGNC: HGNC:24225UniProt: Q17RY6
25PubMed Papers
20Diseases
0Drugs
0Pathogenic Variants
DATA QUALITY
✓ Experimental GO Evidence✓ Swiss-Prot Reviewed
plasma membraneacrosomal vesiclebinding of sperm to zona pellucidaextracellular regiongastric carcinomaduodenal ulcergastric cancerdermatophytosis
✦AI Summary

LY6K (lymphocyte antigen 6 family member K) is a GPI-linked protein normally expressed in testes 1 that plays critical roles in both reproductive and cancer biology. In normal physiology, LY6K is required for sperm migration into the oviduct and male fertility through binding of sperm to zona pellucida. In cancer, LY6K functions as a putative oncogene with significantly elevated expression across multiple solid tumors including breast, ovarian, gastrointestinal, head and neck, brain, bladder, and lung cancers 1. Mechanistically, LY6K promotes cancer cell proliferation and survival through multiple signaling pathways. It regulates ERK-AKT and TGF-β pathways in cancer cells 1 and controls both clathrin- and caveolin-1-mediated endocytosis of TGF-β and EGF receptors 2. Additionally, LY6K signals through aurora B kinase to regulate cell cycle progression and mitosis 1. LY6K expression is transcriptionally regulated by AP-1 transcription factors, with SNP242 and CpG methylation reducing expression 3. Clinically, elevated LY6K expression strongly correlates with poor prognosis and survival outcomes across multiple cancer types 14. LY6K silencing inhibits cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumor growth in vivo 5, making it a promising therapeutic target, particularly for treatment-resistant cancers 1.

Sources cited
1
LY6K is normally expressed in testes, is a GPI-linked protein, shows increased expression in multiple cancer types, regulates ERK-AKT and TGF-β pathways, signals through aurora B kinase in mitosis, and correlates with poor survival outcomes
PMID: 36805500
2
LY6K controls both clathrin- and caveolin-1-mediated endocytosis of TGF-β and EGF receptors and its depletion modulates TGF-β and EGF signaling
PMID: 37076981
3
LY6K expression is regulated by AP-1 transcription factors, and SNP242 C allele or CpG methylation reduce LY6K expression
PMID: 22988241
4
LY6K silencing inhibits cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and tumor growth in vivo in colorectal cancer models
PMID: 39727968
5
LY6K expression is 8.25× higher in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma compared to normal tissue and is associated with poor survival
PMID: 37141412
Disease Associationsⓘ20
gastric carcinomaOpen Targets
0.26Weak
duodenal ulcerOpen Targets
0.20Weak
gastric cancerOpen Targets
0.13Weak
dermatophytosisOpen Targets
0.11Weak
urinary bladder cancerOpen Targets
0.11Weak
stomach neoplasmOpen Targets
0.11Weak
breast cancerOpen Targets
0.10Weak
ovarian cancerOpen Targets
0.10Suggestive
peptic ulcer diseaseOpen Targets
0.09Suggestive
azoospermiaOpen Targets
0.09Suggestive
atrophic gastritisOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
cancerOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
cervical cancerOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
Rare genetic female infertilityOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
urinary bladder carcinomaOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
bladder tumorOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
esophageal cancerOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
breast carcinomaOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
endometrial cancerOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
pancreatic carcinomaOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
Pathogenic Variants
No pathogenic variants reported on ClinVar for this gene.
View on ClinVar ↗
Related Genes
LYNX1Protein interaction97%DEPDC1Protein interaction90%TEX101Protein interaction82%LYPD2Protein interaction79%LY6HProtein interaction72%SLURP1Protein interaction72%
Tissue Expression6 tissues
Heart
100%
Ovary
86%
Brain
83%
Lung
67%
Bone Marrow
26%
Liver
14%
Gene Interaction Network
Click a node to explore
LY6KLYNX1DEPDC1TEX101LYPD2LY6HSLURP1
PROTEIN STRUCTURE
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AlphaFoldAI-predicted · UniProt Q17RY6
View on AlphaFold ↗
Constraintⓘ
LOEUFⓘ
1.84LoF Tolerant
pLIⓘ
0.00Tolerant
Observed/Expected LoF1.11 [0.59–1.84]
RankingsWhere LY6K stands among ~20K protein-coding genes
  • #13,013of 20,598
    Most Researched25
  • #16,793of 17,882
    Most Constrained (LOEUF)1.84
Genes detectedLY6K
Sources retrieved10 papers
Response time—
📄 Sources
10▼
1
Dissecting transcriptional heterogeneity in primary gastric adenocarcinoma by single cell RNA sequencing.
PMID: 32532891
Gut · 2021
1.00
2
Lymphocyte antigen 6K signaling to aurora kinase promotes advancement of the cell cycle and the growth of cancer cells, which is inhibited by LY6K-NSC243928 interaction.
PMID: 36805500
Cancer Lett · 2023
0.90
3
The regulatory mechanism of the LY6K gene expression in human breast cancer cells.
PMID: 22988241
J Biol Chem · 2012
0.80
4
Silencing LY6K Suppresses CD44
PMID: 39727968
Curr Issues Mol Biol · 2024
0.70
5
LY6K depletion modulates TGF-β and EGF signaling.
PMID: 37076981
Cancer Med · 2023
0.60