HomeAboutRankingsData Sources
© 2026 GeneE
🧬
GeneE
27 sources retrieved · Most recent: April 2026 · Index updated 15 days ago
ⓘGeneE is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
TRAF4
TNF receptor associated factor 4
Chromosome 17 · 17q11.2
NCBI Gene: 9618Ensembl: ENSG00000076604.16HGNC: HGNC:12034UniProt: Q9BUZ4
151PubMed Papers
20Diseases
0Drugs
0Pathogenic Variants
FUNCTIONAL ROLE
Highly Constrained
RESEARCH IMPACT
Trending
DATA QUALITY
✓ Experimental GO Evidence✓ Swiss-Prot Reviewed
positive regulation of protein kinase activitytumor necrosis factor receptor bindingpositive regulation of JNK cascadecytoplasmneoplasmbreast cancercolorectal carcinomahepatocellular carcinoma
✦AI Summary

TRAF4 is an adapter protein with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity that regulates diverse cellular processes through ubiquitin-mediated signaling. Functionally, TRAF4 promotes cell proliferation by facilitating EGFR dimerization and downstream AKT activation 1, and modulates osteogenic differentiation through SMURF2 ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation 2. TRAF4 catalyzes K63-linked ubiquitination of CHK1 to activate DNA repair and cell cycle arrest 3, and regulates atypical K29-linked ubiquitination of IRS1 for IGF signaling 4. Additionally, TRAF4 inhibits adipogenic differentiation by activating pyruvate kinase PKM2 and β-catenin signaling 5. Clinically, TRAF4 overexpression promotes malignant progression in multiple cancers. In glioblastoma, TRAF4 stabilizes Caveolin-1 through prevention of ZNRF1-mediated ubiquitination and facilitation of USP7-mediated deubiquitination, driving stemness and temozolomide resistance 6. In neuroblastoma, high TRAF4 expression correlates with poor prognosis and retinoic acid resistance, with TRAF4 silencing inducing apoptosis and improving treatment sensitivity 7. TRAF4 also promotes mTORC1 activation through LAMTOR1 ubiquitination, suppressing inflammation-induced colorectal cancer progression 8. In breast cancer, TRAF4 exhibits anti-apoptotic function and promotes NF-κB signaling 9. These findings establish TRAF4 as a key oncogenic regulator and potential therapeutic target across multiple malignancies.

Sources cited
1
TRAF4 promotes EGFR-mediated signaling and AKT activation for cell proliferation
PMID: 30352854
2
TRAF4 ubiquitinates SMURF2 through K48-linked chains leading to osteogenic differentiation
PMID: 31076633
3
TRAF4 promotes K63-linked ubiquitination of CHK1 for DNA repair and cell cycle arrest
PMID: 32357935
4
TRAF4 mediates atypical K29-linked ubiquitination of IRS1 for IGF signal transduction
PMID: 33991522
5
TRAF4 inhibits adipogenic differentiation by activating PKM2 kinase and β-catenin signaling
PMID: 32268273
6
TRAF4 stabilizes Caveolin-1 by preventing ubiquitination and facilitating deubiquitination, driving glioblastoma stemness and temozolomide resistance
PMID: 35895752
7
TRAF4 high expression correlates with poor prognosis in neuroblastoma; TRAF4 silencing improves retinoic acid sensitivity and induces apoptosis
PMID: 36795185
8
TRAF4 catalyzes K63-linked ubiquitination of LAMTOR1 to promote mTORC1 activation and suppress inflammation-induced colorectal cancer
PMID: 38229144
9
TRAF4 is overexpressed in breast cancer MCF-7 cells and exhibits anti-apoptotic function with NF-κB promotion
PMID: 24396457
Disease Associationsⓘ20
neoplasmOpen Targets
0.11Weak
breast cancerOpen Targets
0.11Weak
colorectal carcinomaOpen Targets
0.10Weak
hepatocellular carcinomaOpen Targets
0.09Suggestive
gliomaOpen Targets
0.09Suggestive
osteosarcomaOpen Targets
0.09Suggestive
ovarian cancerOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
oral squamous cell carcinomaOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
glioblastomaOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
urinary bladder carcinomaOpen Targets
0.08Suggestive
nasopharyngeal carcinomaOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
cardiac hypertrophyOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
esophageal squamous cell carcinomaOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
non-small cell lung carcinomaOpen Targets
0.06Suggestive
metabolic diseaseOpen Targets
0.06Suggestive
inflammatory bowel diseaseOpen Targets
0.06Suggestive
idiopathic bronchiectasisOpen Targets
0.05Suggestive
bronchiectasisOpen Targets
0.05Suggestive
asthmaOpen Targets
0.05Suggestive
lung cancerOpen Targets
0.05Suggestive
Pathogenic Variants
No pathogenic variants reported on ClinVar for this gene.
View on ClinVar ↗
Related Genes
NOD2Protein interaction100%TRAF6Protein interaction99%NCF1Protein interaction97%TGFB1I1Protein interaction91%GP1BBProtein interaction83%MTO1Protein interaction79%
Tissue Expression6 tissues
Bone Marrow
100%
Liver
90%
Lung
34%
Brain
22%
Ovary
16%
Heart
4%
Gene Interaction Network
Click a node to explore
TRAF4NOD2TRAF6NCF1TGFB1I1GP1BBMTO1
PROTEIN STRUCTURE
Preparing viewer…
PDB3ZJB · 1.84 Å · X-ray
View on RCSB ↗
Constraintⓘ
LOEUFⓘ
0.34Highly Constrained
pLIⓘ
1.00Intolerant
Observed/Expected LoF0.20 [0.12–0.34]
RankingsWhere TRAF4 stands among ~20K protein-coding genes
  • #3,008of 20,598
    Most Researched151 · top quartile
  • #1,491of 17,882
    Most Constrained (LOEUF)0.34 · top 10%
Genes detectedTRAF4
Sources retrieved27 papers
Response time—
📄 Sources
27▼
1
TRAF4 Maintains Deubiquitination of Caveolin-1 to Drive Glioblastoma Stemness and Temozolomide Resistance.
PMID: 35895752
Cancer Res · 2022
1.00
2
TRAF4 Silencing Induces Cell Apoptosis and Improves Retinoic Acid Sensitivity in Human Neuroblastoma.
PMID: 36795185
Neurochem Res · 2023
0.90
3
Silencing COX-2 blocks PDK1/TRAF4-induced AKT activation to inhibit fibrogenesis during skeletal muscle atrophy.
PMID: 33152664
Redox Biol · 2021
0.80
4
TRAF4-mediated ubiquitination-dependent activation of JNK/Bcl-xL drives radioresistance.
PMID: 36765039
Cell Death Dis · 2023
0.76
5
Stabilization of MCL-1 by E3 ligase TRAF4 confers radioresistance.
PMID: 36535926
Cell Death Dis · 2022
0.72