Protein / target

Catalase

Encoded byCATP04040Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot

UniProt: P04040 Ensembl: ENSG00000121691 HGNC: HGNC:1516 NCBI Gene: 847

Small-molecule tractable

Druggability

Structure with Ligand

Research papers

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Oxidoreductase activity, acting on peroxide as acceptor

Strongest disease association

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2

Via encoding gene CAT · Genetic evidence · score 0.55

Research activity

Emerging research

7 papers · latest 2024

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

Catalyzes the degradation of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) generated by peroxisomal oxidases to water and oxygen, thereby protecting cells from the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Catalyzes the degradation of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) generated by peroxisomal oxidases to water and oxygen, thereby protecting cells from the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide (PubMed:7882369). Promotes growth of cells including T-cells, B-cells, myeloid leukemia cells, melanoma cells, mastocytoma cells and normal and transformed fibroblast cells (PubMed:7882369)

Subcellular location

Peroxisome matrix

Domains and Gene Ontology detail (51)

Gene Ontology

Ccytoplasm
Ccytosol
Cextracellular exosome
Cextracellular region
Cficolin-1-rich granule lumen
Cfocal adhesion
Cmembrane
Cmitochondrion
Cperoxisomal matrix
Cperoxisomal membrane
Cperoxisome
Cprotein-containing complex

527 aa · 60 kDa

Biological roles

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

Lipid & lipoprotein metabolismGO

View supporting evidence

Lipid & lipoprotein metabolism

·response to fatty acid

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 CAT

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene CATthat 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.

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2

0.61Moderately supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.36

COVID-19

0.48Limited support

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.28

Major depressive disorder

0.44Limited support

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.25

Narcolepsy

0.36Limited support

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.22

Neurodegenerative Diseases

0.16Preliminary

Pathway evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.22 · no direct causal or clinical evidence

View evidence synthesis (5)

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2Moderately supported

0.61

agreement 0.47–0.75

Genetic81%Literature19%

Open Targets aggregate 0.36 · 2 independent evidence families

COVID-19Limited support

0.48

agreement 0.34–0.62

Genetic81%Literature19%

Open Targets aggregate 0.28 · 2 independent evidence families

Major depressive disorderLimited support

0.44

agreement 0.30–0.58

Genetic81%Literature19%

Open Targets aggregate 0.25 · 2 independent evidence families

NarcolepsyLimited support

0.36

agreement 0.24–0.48

Genetic100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.22 · 1 independent evidence family

Neurodegenerative DiseasesPreliminary

0.16

agreement 0.00–0.34

Pathway87%Literature13%

Open Targets aggregate 0.22 · 2 independent evidence families · 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

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 20.36

COVID-190.28

Major depressive disorder0.25

Neurodegenerative Diseases0.22

Narcolepsy0.22

Neoplasms0.12

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular0.11

Hydrops fetalis0.11

Tractability

Small molecules — Emerging

Feasibility evidence (structure with ligand and high-quality pocket) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Antibodies — Emerging

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

Protein degraders — Emerging

Feasibility evidence (database ubiquitination and half-life data) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (6)

SM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality PocketAB · GO CC high confPR · Database UbiquitinationPR · Half-life DataPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Safety-related annotations

cardiac damage after anthracycline exposureClinPGxregulation of transcription factor activityToxCast

Terms indexed against this target in Open Targets' safety data, with their datasource. These are annotations, not causal claims: the direction of effect (whether activation or inhibition is implicated), species and evidence strength are not captured here, so an entry does not mean that modulating this target is known to cause that condition.