SEMA3A

Overview

SEMA3A (semaphorin 3A) encodes a secreted class-3 semaphorin that acts as a repulsive axon guidance cue by binding to PLXNA1 and neuropilin co-receptors. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, SEMA3A is amplified in approximately 18% of tumors and high SEMA3A expression is associated with poor prognosis, implicating aberrant axon guidance signaling in PDAC biology.

Alterations observed in the corpus

  • Amplification in approximately 18% of pancreatic cancer tumors in WES of 142 ICGC tumors; high SEMA3A expression is associated with poor prognosis in resected PDAC PMID:23103869

Cancer types (linked)

  • Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PAAD): amplified in ~18% of tumors; high expression is a poor prognostic biomarker PMID:23103869

Co-occurrence and mutual exclusivity

  • Co-amplified with SEMA3E; both signal through PLXNA1 receptor in the semaphorin-plexin axon guidance pathway PMID:23103869

Therapeutic relevance

  • Therapeutics targeting semaphorin-plexin signaling (developed for neuronal regeneration) represent unexplored candidates for PDAC treatment PMID:23103869

Open questions

  • Whether SEMA3A amplification is a driver or passenger event in PDAC requires functional validation; clinical trials targeting this pathway are lacking PMID:23103869

Sources

This page was processed by entity-page-writer on 2026-05-07.