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Protein / target

Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2

Encoded bySREBF2Q12772Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
UniProt: Q12772Ensembl: ENSG00000198911HGNC: HGNC:11290NCBI Gene: 6721
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Druggable Family
1
Research papers

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Sequence-specific double-stranded DNA binding

Strongest disease association

Communicable Diseases

Via encoding gene SREBF2 · Genetic evidence · score 0.23

Research activity

Emerging research

1 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

Precursor of the transcription factor form (Processed sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2), which is embedded in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Precursor of the transcription factor form (Processed sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2), which is embedded in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane (PubMed:32322062). Low sterol concentrations promote processing of this form, releasing the transcription factor form that translocates into the nucleus and activates transcription of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis (PubMed:32322062)

Subcellular location

Endoplasmic reticulum membraneGolgi apparatus membraneCytoplasmic vesicle, COPII-coated vesicle membraneNucleus
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (36)

Domains & features

bHLH

Gene Ontology

  • Cchromatin
  • Ccytoplasm
  • Ccytosol
  • Cendoplasmic reticulum
  • Cendoplasmic reticulum membrane
  • CER to Golgi transport vesicle membrane
  • CGolgi apparatus
  • CGolgi membrane
  • Cnucleoplasm
  • Cnucleus
  • CSREBP-SCAP-Insig complex
  • FDNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific

1141 aa · 124 kDa · 2 isoforms

Biological roles

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

Lipid & lipoprotein metabolismUniProt · GOTranscriptional regulationUniProt · GO
View supporting evidence

Lipid & lipoprotein metabolism

  • ·Precursor of the transcription factor form (Processed sterol regulatory element-binding…
  • ·cellular response to low-density lipoprotein particle stimulus
  • ·cholesterol metabolic process
  • ·lipid metabolic process

Transcriptional regulation

  • ·Precursor of the transcription factor form (Processed sterol regulatory element-binding…
  • ·DNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific
  • ·DNA-binding transcription repressor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific
  • ·RNA polymerase II cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding

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 SREBF2

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene SREBF2that 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.

Neurodegenerative Diseases
0.31Preliminary

Pathway evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.46 · no direct causal or clinical evidence

Early-onset non-syndromic cataract
0.29Preliminary

Animal model evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.09 · no direct causal or clinical evidence

Communicable Diseases
0.27Limited support

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.15

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular
0.14Preliminary

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

Colorectal Neoplasms
0.13Preliminary

Literature evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.10 · no direct causal or clinical evidence

View evidence synthesis (5)
Neurodegenerative DiseasesPreliminary
0.31
agreement 0.13–0.48
Pathway98%Literature2%

Open Targets aggregate 0.46 · 2 independent evidence families · no direct causal or clinical evidence

Early-onset non-syndromic cataractPreliminary
0.29
agreement 0.06–0.52
Animal model100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.09 · 1 independent evidence family · no direct causal or clinical evidence

Communicable DiseasesLimited support
0.27
agreement 0.13–0.41
Genetic84%Literature16%

Open Targets aggregate 0.15 · 2 independent evidence families

Carcinoma, HepatocellularPreliminary
0.14
agreement 0.00–0.41
Literature100%

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

Colorectal NeoplasmsPreliminary
0.13
agreement 0.00–0.40
Literature100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.10 · 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
Neurodegenerative Diseases0.46
Communicable Diseases0.15
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular0.11
Colorectal Neoplasms0.10
Neoplasms0.10
Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma0.09
Early-onset non-syndromic cataract0.09
Central Nervous System Neoplasms0.09

Tractability

Small molecules — Emerging

Feasibility evidence (druggable family) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Antibodies — Emerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot sigp or tmhmm) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Protein degraders — Emerging

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

View underlying tractability evidence (5)
SM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMPR · UniProt UbiquitinationPR · Database UbiquitinationPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Research activity

1 papers · to 2024

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

Most cited

A lactate-SREBP2 signaling axis drives tolerogenic dendritic cell maturation and promotes cancer progression.79 cites

Plebanek MP · Science immunology · 2024

Recent

A lactate-SREBP2 signaling axis drives tolerogenic dendritic cell maturation and promotes cancer progression.

Plebanek MP · Science immunology · 2024

Europe PMC papers linked directly to this protein.