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GeneE
9 sources retrieved · Most recent: April 2026 · Index updated 15 days ago
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WFDC3
WAP four-disulfide core domain 3
Chromosome 20 · 20q13.12
NCBI Gene: 140686Ensembl: ENSG00000124116.19HGNC: HGNC:15957UniProt: Q8IUB2
11PubMed Papers
20Diseases
0Drugs
0Pathogenic Variants
DATA QUALITY
✓ Experimental GO Evidence✓ Swiss-Prot Reviewed
protein bindingantibacterial humoral responseinnate immune responseGO:0005615pancreatic adenocarcinomaneoplasmsebaceous of Jadassohn nevusnon-small cell lung carcinoma
✦AI Summary

WFDC3 (WAP four-disulfide core domain 3) is a serine-type endopeptidase inhibitor protein belonging to the WAP family, which functions in innate immune responses and antibacterial humoral responses 1. WFDC3 contains a conserved whey acidic protein motif characteristic of antibacterial proteins 1. The protein is constitutively expressed in reproductive tissues and is upregulated during inflammatory conditions such as lipopolysaccharide-induced epididymitis 2. WFDC3 exhibits context-dependent roles in cancer biology. In colorectal cancer, WFDC3 functions as a tumor suppressor, inhibiting metastasis through estrogen receptor β (ERβ)-mediated transcriptional repression of TGFBR1 and enhancing chemotherapy sensitivity by inhibiting ATM/ATR kinase signaling 34. However, in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, high WFDC3 expression correlates with poor prognosis, reduced immune cell infiltration (B, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells), and is associated with altered amino acid metabolism 56. In pancreatic cancer, WFDC3 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and immune evasion through T cell cytotoxicity suppression 6. Clinically, WFDC3 serves as a potential prognostic biomarker in both colorectal and pancreatic cancers 35. In male fertility, WFDC3 single-knockout mice remain fertile with no obvious reproductive phenotype 7. WFDC3 was also identified as a risk gene in autoimmune disease phenotypes 8.

Sources cited
1
High WFDC3 expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma associates with poor prognosis, reduced immune infiltration, and altered amino acid metabolism
PMID: 37861515
2
WFDC3 promotes pancreatic cancer metastasis through epithelial-mesenchymal transition and immune evasion via T cell suppression
PMID: 40350979
3
WFDC3 suppresses colorectal cancer metastasis through ERβ-mediated transcriptional repression of TGFBR1 and stabilizes estrogen receptor β
PMID: 37443102
4
WFDC3 single-knockout mice are fertile with no obvious reproductive phenotype, distinguishing it from other WFDC genes critical for male fertility
PMID: 39665756
5
WFDC3 sensitizes colorectal cancer to oxaliplatin by inhibiting ATM/ATR kinase signaling
PMID: 39853769
6
WFDC family proteins contain whey acidic protein motifs with antibacterial activity and function in innate immunity
PMID: 12574366
7
WFDC3 transcripts are upregulated in response to lipopolysaccharide-induced epididymal inflammation
PMID: 33034631
8
WFDC3 is associated with autoimmune disease phenotypes in both canine and human systemic lupus erythematosus-related disease
PMID: 26057447
Disease Associationsⓘ20
pancreatic adenocarcinomaOpen Targets
0.09Suggestive
neoplasmOpen Targets
0.07Suggestive
sebaceous of Jadassohn nevusOpen Targets
0.04Suggestive
non-small cell lung carcinomaOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
bipolar disorderOpen Targets
0.03Suggestive
psoriasisOpen Targets
0.02Suggestive
cancerOpen Targets
0.02Suggestive
colorectal carcinomaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
colorectal cancerOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
cholangiocarcinomaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
colon adenocarcinomaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
gastric adenocarcinomaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
lung adenocarcinomaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
Crohn's diseaseOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
rosaceaOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
pancreatic intraductal papillary-mucinous neoplasmOpen Targets
0.01Suggestive
systemic lupus erythematosusOpen Targets
0.00Suggestive
lung cancerOpen Targets
0.00Suggestive
lymph node metastatic carcinomaOpen Targets
0.00Suggestive
prostate cancerOpen Targets
0.00Suggestive
Pathogenic Variants
No pathogenic variants reported on ClinVar for this gene.
View on ClinVar ↗
Related Genes
WFDC9Shared pathway100%WFDC11Shared pathway100%WFDC5Shared pathway100%WFDC10AShared pathway100%WFDC10BProtein interaction82%WFDC13Shared pathway76%
Tissue Expression6 tissues
Bone Marrow
100%
Brain
79%
Lung
67%
Ovary
58%
Heart
42%
Liver
38%
Gene Interaction Network
Click a node to explore
WFDC3WFDC9WFDC11WFDC5WFDC10AWFDC10BWFDC13
PROTEIN STRUCTURE
Preparing viewer…
AlphaFoldAI-predicted · UniProt Q8IUB2
View on AlphaFold ↗
Constraintⓘ
LOEUFⓘ
0.93LoF Tolerant
pLIⓘ
0.00Tolerant
Observed/Expected LoF0.59 [0.39–0.93]
RankingsWhere WFDC3 stands among ~20K protein-coding genes
  • #16,943of 20,598
    Most Researched11
  • #8,555of 17,882
    Most Constrained (LOEUF)0.93
Genes detectedWFDC3
Sources retrieved9 papers
Response time—
📄 Sources
9▼
1
High WFDC3 gene expression is associated with poor prognosis and reduced immune cells infiltration in pancreatic adenocarcinoma: A study using the TCGA database and bioinformatics analysis.
PMID: 37861515
Medicine (Baltimore) · 2023
1.00
2
WFDC3 identified as a prognostic and immune biomarker in pancreatic cancer.
PMID: 40350979
Biomol Biomed · 2025
0.89
3
WFDC3 inhibits tumor metastasis by promoting the ERβ-mediated transcriptional repression of TGFBR1 in colorectal cancer.
PMID: 37443102
Cell Death Dis · 2023
0.78
4
Large-scale CRISPR/Cas9 deletions within the WFDC gene cluster uncover gene functionality and critical roles in mammalian reproduction.
PMID: 39665756
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2024
0.67
5
WFDC3 sensitizes colorectal cancer to chemotherapy by regulating ATM/ATR kinase signaling pathway.
PMID: 39853769
FASEB J · 2025
0.56