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Protein / target

Advanced glycation end product-specific receptor

Encoded byAGERQ15109Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinical-stage
Therapeutic maturity
1
Clinical candidates
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Advanced Clinical
7
Research papers

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Advanced glycation end-product receptor

Strongest disease association

COVID-19

Via encoding gene AGER · Literature evidence · score 0.21

Therapeutic position

Clinically advancing target

Small molecules

Research activity

Emerging research

7 papers · latest 2025

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Cell surface pattern recognition receptor that senses endogenous stress signals with a broad ligand repertoire including advanced glycation end products, S100 proteins, high-mobility group box 1 protein/HMGB1, amyloid beta/APP oligomers, nucleic acids, histones, phospholipids and glycosaminoglycans.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Cell surface pattern recognition receptor that senses endogenous stress signals with a broad ligand repertoire including advanced glycation end products, S100 proteins, high-mobility group box 1 protein/HMGB1, amyloid beta/APP oligomers, nucleic acids, histones, phospholipids and glycosaminoglycans (PubMed:27572515, PubMed:28515150, PubMed:34743181, PubMed:35974093, PubMed:24081950). Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are nonenzymatically glycosylated proteins which accumulate in vascular tissue in aging and at an accelerated rate in diabetes (PubMed:21565706). These ligands accumulate at inflammatory sites during the pathogenesis of various diseases including diabetes, vascular complications, neurodegenerative disorders and cancers, and RAGE transduces their binding into pro-inflammatory responses. Upon ligand binding, uses TIRAP and MYD88 as adapters to transduce the signal ultimately leading to the induction of inflammatory cytokines IL6, IL8 and TNFalpha through activation of NF-kappa-B (PubMed:21829704, PubMed:33436632). Interaction with S100A12 on endothelium, mononuclear phagocytes, and lymphocytes triggers cellular activation, with generation of key pro-inflammatory mediators (PubMed:19386136). Interaction with S100B after myocardial infarction may play a role in myocyte apoptosis by activating ERK1/2 and p53/TP53 signaling (By similarity). Contributes to the translocation of amyloid-beta peptide (ABPP) across the cell membrane from the extracellular to the intracellular space in cortical neurons (PubMed:19906677). ABPP-initiated RAGE signaling, especially stimulation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), has the capacity to drive a transport system delivering ABPP as a complex with RAGE to the intraneuronal space. Participates in endothelial albumin transcytosis together with HMGB1 through the RAGE/SRC/Caveolin-1 pathway, leading to endothelial hyperpermeability (PubMed:27572515). Mediates the loading of HMGB1 in extracellular vesicles (EVs) that shuttle HMGB1 to hepatocytes by transferrin-mediated endocytosis and subsequently promote hepatocyte pyroptosis by activating the NLRP3 inflammasome (PubMed:34743181). Binds to DNA and promotes extracellular hypomethylated DNA (CpG DNA) uptake by cells via the endosomal route to activate inflammatory responses (PubMed:24081950, PubMed:28515150). Mediates phagocytosis by non-professional phagocytes (NPP) and this is enhanced by binding to ligands including RNA, DNA, HMGB1 and histones (PubMed:35974093). Promotes NPP-mediated phagocytosis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae spores by binding to RNA attached to the spore wall (PubMed:35974093). Also promotes NPP-mediated phagocytosis of apoptotic cells (PubMed:35974093). Following DNA damage, recruited to DNA double-strand break sites where it colocalizes with the MRN repair complex via interaction with double-strand break repair protein MRE11 (By similarity). Enhances the endonuclease activity of MRE11, promoting the end resection of damaged DNA (By similarity). Promotes DNA damage repair in trophoblasts which enhances trophoblast invasion and contributes to placental development and maintenance (PubMed:33918759). Protects cells from DNA replication stress by localizing to damaged replication forks where it stabilizes the MCM2-7 complex and promotes faithful progression of the replication fork (PubMed:36807739). Mediates the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human endothelial cells (PubMed:25401185)

Subcellular location

Cell membraneCell projection, phagocytic cupEarly endosomeNucleusSecreted
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (69)

Domains & features

Ig-like V-typeIg-like C2-type 1Ig-like C2-type 2

Gene Ontology

  • Capical plasma membrane
  • Ccell junction
  • Ccell surface
  • Cearly endosome
  • Cextracellular space
  • Cnucleus
  • Cphagocytic cup
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Cpostsynapse
  • Fadvanced glycation end-product receptor activity
  • Famyloid-beta binding
  • FDNA binding

404 aa · 43 kDa · 10 isoforms

Biological roles

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Synaptic signallingGOLipid & lipoprotein metabolismUniProtImmune signallingUniProt · GOCell adhesionGO
View supporting evidence

Synaptic signalling

  • ·postsynapse
  • ·regulation of spontaneous synaptic transmission

Lipid & lipoprotein metabolism

  • ·Cell surface pattern recognition receptor that senses endogenous stress signals with a b…

Immune signalling

  • ·Cell surface pattern recognition receptor that senses endogenous stress signals with a b…
  • ·inflammatory response
  • ·negative regulation of interleukin-10 production
  • ·positive regulation of activated T cell proliferation

Cell adhesion

  • ·cell junction
  • ·positive regulation of heterotypic cell-cell adhesion

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene AGER

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene AGERthat encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

COVID-19
0.33Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.21

Alzheimer's Disease
0.33Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.21

Pneumonia
0.26Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.19

Neoplasms
0.14Preliminary

Literature evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.12 · no direct causal or clinical evidence

Breast Neoplasms
0.14Preliminary

Literature evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.11 · no direct causal or clinical evidence

View evidence synthesis (5)
COVID-19Limited support
0.33
agreement 0.200.47
Clinical62%Literature30%RNA expression8%

Open Targets aggregate 0.21 · 3 independent evidence families

Alzheimer's DiseaseLimited support
0.33
agreement 0.170.48
Clinical62%Literature38%

Open Targets aggregate 0.21 · 2 independent evidence families

PneumoniaLimited support
0.26
agreement 0.100.41
Clinical85%Literature15%

Open Targets aggregate 0.19 · 2 independent evidence families

NeoplasmsPreliminary
0.14
agreement 0.000.42
Literature100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.12 · 1 independent evidence family · no direct causal or clinical evidence

Breast NeoplasmsPreliminary
0.14
agreement 0.000.41
Literature100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.11 · 1 independent evidence family · no direct causal or clinical evidence

The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
COVID-190.21
Alzheimer's Disease0.21
Pneumonia0.19
Neoplasms0.12
Breast Neoplasms0.11
Diabetes Mellitus0.11
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive0.11
Stomach Neoplasms0.11
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular0.11

Drug development

1 compounds recorded · 1 in clinical development

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines.

View all recorded compounds (1)
AZELIRAGONPhase 3

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

Small moleculesStrong

Advanced Clinical and Structure with Ligand support this modality.

AntibodiesEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot loc high conf and go cc high conf) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Protein degradersEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot ubiquitination and small molecule binder) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (10)
SM · Advanced ClinicalSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · High-Quality PocketAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt loc med confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMPR · UniProt UbiquitinationPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Research activity

7 papers · to 2025

Papers linked directly to this protein. This is the protein's own literature — descriptor-derived papers are kept separate below.

Most cited

Recent

Europe PMC papers linked directly to this protein.

Related family literature

1

Papers about “Receptors, Scavenger” — a broader family this protein belongs to. Shown as context; not counted as papers specifically about this protein.

The Role of Macrophages in <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> Infection.

Pidwill GR · Frontiers in immunology · 2020

via Receptors, Scavenger

Europe PMC literature, reached through curated HGNC family membership. Membership is a taxonomic relationship — it does not imply this protein participates in every mechanism these papers discuss.