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10 sources retrieved · Most recent: April 2026 · Index updated 15 days ago
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ST6GALNAC4
ST6 N-acetylgalactosaminide alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase 4
Chromosome 9 · 9q34.11
NCBI Gene: 27090Ensembl: ENSG00000136840.20HGNC: HGNC:17846UniProt: A8K7N4
26PubMed Papers
20Diseases
0Drugs
0Pathogenic Variants
DATA QUALITY
✓ Experimental GO Evidence✓ Swiss-Prot Reviewed
oligosaccharide metabolic processganglioside biosynthetic processalpha-N-acetylgalactosaminide alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase activityglycolipid metabolic processCOVID-19severe acute respiratory syndromehepatocellular carcinomaposterior cortical atrophy
✦AI Summary

ST6GALNAC4 encodes a sialyltransferase that catalyzes the transfer of sialic acid from CMP-NeuAc to GalNAc residues, forming α-2,6-linkages and producing disialyl-T antigen structures 1. The enzyme shows high efficiency in bacterial expression systems and outperforms some bacterial sialyltransferases in O-glycan modification 2. ST6GALNAC4 plays critical roles in cancer biology, where it functions as part of a glycoimmune checkpoint mechanism. MYC oncogene drives ST6GALNAC4 expression, leading to disialyl-T production that serves as a "don't eat me" signal by engaging Siglec receptors on macrophages, thereby enabling tumor immune evasion 3. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), ST6GALNAC4 promotes malignant progression through abnormal glycosylation of TGFBR2, activating TGF-β signaling and enhancing proliferation, migration, and invasion 4. The enzyme also contributes to immunosuppression through the T antigen-galectin3+ tumor-associated macrophage axis 4. ST6GALNAC4 serves as a prognostic biomarker, with high expression correlating with poor outcomes and reduced immune infiltration in various cancers 35. In thyroid carcinoma, miR-4299 regulates tumor invasiveness by targeting ST6GALNAC4 6. Functionally, ST6GALNAC4 works with ST6GALNAC3 to synthesize disialyl-T structures essential for lymph node vascular integrity 1.

Sources cited
1
ST6GALNAC4 catalyzes sialic acid transfer to form disialyl-T structures and is required with ST6GALNAC3 for lymph node vascular integrity
PMID: 37386100
2
ST6GALNAC4 shows high efficiency in bacterial expression systems for O-glycan modification
PMID: 34939113
3
MYC drives ST6GALNAC4 expression to produce disialyl-T that functions as glycoimmune checkpoint ligand for tumor immune evasion
PMID: 36897988
4
ST6GALNAC4 promotes HCC progression through abnormal TGFBR2 glycosylation and TGF-β pathway activation
PMID: 37381011
5
ST6GALNAC4 serves as prognostic biomarker with high expression correlating with poor outcomes
PMID: 41398172
6
miR-4299 regulates thyroid carcinoma invasiveness by targeting ST6GALNAC4
PMID: 26715099
Disease Associationsⓘ20
COVID-19Open Targets
0.46Moderate
severe acute respiratory syndromeOpen Targets
0.37Weak
hepatocellular carcinomaOpen Targets
0.04Suggestive
posterior cortical atrophyOpen Targets
0.04Suggestive
achalasia-alacrima syndromeOpen Targets
0.04Suggestive
acute lymphoblastic leukemiaOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
cataractOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
triple-negative breast cancerOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
neoplasmOpen Targets
0.02Suggestive
chronic lymphocytic leukemiaOpen Targets
0.02Suggestive
LeishmaniasisOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
SepsisOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
follicular thyroid carcinomaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
cancerOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
Alzheimer diseaseOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
visceral LeishmaniasisOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
colorectal cancerOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
Abnormality of mitochondrial metabolismOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
cardiomyopathyOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
metastatic melanomaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
Pathogenic Variants
No pathogenic variants reported on ClinVar for this gene.
View on ClinVar ↗
Related Genes
AHSGProtein interaction83%ST3GAL1Protein interaction74%ST3GAL2Protein interaction74%ST6GALNAC3Shared pathway67%ST8SIA2Protein interaction57%ST3GAL3Shared pathway50%
Tissue Expression6 tissues
Lung
100%
Bone Marrow
84%
Heart
70%
Ovary
69%
Liver
16%
Brain
15%
Gene Interaction Network
Click a node to explore
ST6GALNAC4AHSGST3GAL1ST3GAL2ST6GALNAC3ST8SIA2ST3GAL3
PROTEIN STRUCTURE
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AlphaFoldAI-predicted · UniProt Q9H4F1
View on AlphaFold ↗
Constraintⓘ
LOEUFⓘ
1.11LoF Tolerant
pLIⓘ
0.00Tolerant
Observed/Expected LoF0.79 [0.57–1.11]
RankingsWhere ST6GALNAC4 stands among ~20K protein-coding genes
  • #12,891of 20,598
    Most Researched26
  • #11,424of 17,882
    Most Constrained (LOEUF)1.11
Genes detectedST6GALNAC4
Sources retrieved10 papers
Response time—
📄 Sources
10▼
1
MYC-driven synthesis of Siglec ligands is a glycoimmune checkpoint.
PMID: 36897988
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2023
1.00
2
miR-4299 mediates the invasive properties and tumorigenicity of human follicular thyroid carcinoma by targeting ST6GALNAC4.
PMID: 26715099
IUBMB Life · 2016
0.90
3
Multiple-omics analysis of aggrephagy-related cellular patterns and development of an aggrephagy-related signature for hepatocellular carcinoma.
PMID: 40307857
World J Surg Oncol · 2025
0.80
4
ST6GALNAC4 promotes hepatocellular carcinogenesis by inducing abnormal glycosylation.
PMID: 37381011
J Transl Med · 2023
0.70
5
Prognostic and immunological implications of sialylation-associated gene signatures in hepatocellular carcinoma.
PMID: 41398172
Ann Med · 2025
0.60