Glypican 2
Glypican 2, also known cerebroglycan, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the GPC2 gene.Function
Cerebroglycan is a glycophosphatidylinositol-linked integral membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan found in the
developing nervous system. Cerebroglycan participates in cell adhesion and is thought to regulate the growth and guidance of axons. Cerebroglycan has especially high affinity for laminin-1.Implications in cancer
GPC2 has been suggested as a therapeutic target in neuroblastoma. GPC2 is highly expressed in about half of neuroblastoma cases and that high GPC2 expression correlates with poor overall survival. GPC2 silencing inactivates Wnt/β-catenin signaling and reduces the expression of N-Myc, an oncogenic driver of neuroblastoma tumorigenesis. Immunotoxins and chimeric antigen receptor T cells targeting GPC2 inhibit neuroblastoma growth in mouse models. A GPC3 specific antibody drug conjugate can also inhibit neuroblastoma cell proliferation.
