ASNS
Overview
ASNS (asparagine synthetase) encodes the enzyme responsible for synthesizing asparagine from aspartate and glutamine, a key metabolic step exploited in cancer cells under nutrient stress. In endometrial carcinoma, ASNS protein expression was noted to be elevated in the POLE-ultramutated subgroup by RPPA.
Alterations observed in the corpus
- High RPPA (reverse-phase protein array) expression of ASNS observed in the POLE-ultramutated / cell-cycle-deregulated subgroup of endometrial carcinoma (ucec_tcga_pub); interpreted as a feature of the metabolic state accompanying POLE-driven hypermutation. PMID:23636398
Cancer types (linked)
- UCEC (uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma): elevated protein expression in the POLE-ultramutated molecular subtype; not noted as mutated at significant frequency. PMID:23636398
Co-occurrence and mutual exclusivity
- Elevated expression co-occurs with AURKA and CCNB1 protein upregulation in the POLE-ultramutated subgroup, suggesting a coordinated cell-cycle and metabolic phenotype. PMID:23636398
Therapeutic relevance
- Asparagine synthetase is a target of asparaginase-based therapy in ALL; relevance in POLE-mutant endometrial cancer has not been investigated. PMID:23636398
Open questions
- Whether elevated ASNS expression is causally related to the POLE-mutant phenotype or is a secondary consequence of increased proliferation is not addressed. PMID:23636398
Sources
This page was processed by crosslinker on 2026-05-09.