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Review
. 2023 Jul 3;11(2):861-873.
doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2023.05.010. eCollection 2024 Mar.

Oncogenic MORC2 in cancer development and beyond

Shan Zhang  1 , Ayao Guo  2 , Huan Wang  1 , Jia Liu  1 , Chenshuang Dong  1 , Junyi Ren  1 , Guiling Wang  1
Affiliations
Review

Oncogenic MORC2 in cancer development and beyond

Shan Zhang et al. Genes Dis. .

Abstract

Microrchidia CW-type zinc finger 2 (MORC2) is a member of the MORC superfamily of nuclear proteins. Growing evidence has shown that MORC2 not only participates in gene transcription and chromatin remodeling but also plays a key in human disease and tumor development by regulating the expression of downstream oncogenes or tumor suppressors. The present review provides an updated overview of MORC2 in the aspect of cancer hallmark and therapeutic resistance and summarizes its upstream regulators and downstream target genes. This systematic review may provide a favorable theoretical basis for emerging players of MORC2 in tumor development and new insight into the potential clinical application of basic science discoveries in the future.

Keywords: Cancer development; Hallmarks of cancer; MORC2; Therapeutic target; Treatment resistance.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Figure 1
Frequency of MORC2 amplification and mutation in human cancers based on TCGA cancer data using the GEPIA web tool (http://gepia.cancer-pku.cn/). (A) The expression profile of MORC2 gene in all tumor samples and paired normal tissues. The height of the bars represents the median expression of a tumor type or normal tissue. (B) Frequency of MORC2 protein mutation in cancer. The bar plot above shows the proportion of tumor samples that have any altered mutation in the given protein.
Fig. 2
Figure 2
Genetic alteration of MORC2 in human cancer from TCGA cancer data. The data is retrieved using the cBioPortal web tool (http://www.cbioportal.org). (A) Genetic alteration of MORC2 in various tumors. (B) Frequent MORC2 mutations in human cancers.
Fig. 3
Figure 3
MORC2 is involved in multiple processes of cancer occurrence and development, including cell proliferation and survival, migration and invasion, and cell metabolism.
Fig. 4
Figure 4
MORC2 is associated with cancer treatment resistance including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and endocrine therapy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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