{"entity":{"id":"dll4","kind":"target","name":"DLL4","aka":["delta like canonical Notch ligand 4","Delta-like protein 4"],"tldr":"DLL4 (Delta-like protein 4) is a protein on the cell surface. The public catalogues list it as a drug target and an antigen, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response.","summary":"Involved in the Notch signalling pathway as Notch ligand. Activates NOTCH1 and NOTCH4. Involved in angiogenesis; negatively regulates endothelial cell proliferation and migration and angiogenic sprouting.\n\nOpen Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.60 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes clinical 0.18, affected pathway 0.91, literature 0.98, genetic association 0.00, animal model 0.26). In OnCo, 1 product record names it (Tovecimig).","asOf":"2026-09-23","links":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:2910","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:2910"},{"label":"UniProt Q9NR61","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q9NR61/entry"},{"label":"NCBI Gene 54567","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/54567"},{"label":"Ensembl ENSG00000128917","url":"https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000128917"}],"tags":["cancer-genes-wave"],"related":["open-targets"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":["tovecimig"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: Open Targets known-drug datatype score 0.18; a membrane or secreted protein (UniProt keywords) that 1 antibody-based OnCo product name. Evidence tier \"clinical-evidence\" is the strongest of those signals.","Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate."],"provenance":{"editedBy":"scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts (CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC, UniProt)","editedOn":"2026-09-23"},"symbol":"DLL4","role":["drug-target","antigen"],"evidenceTier":"clinical-evidence","sources":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:2910","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:2910","note":"approved symbol, name, aliases, locus and cross-references (hgnc_complete_set.txt)"},{"label":"UniProt Q9NR61","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q9NR61/entry","note":"protein name, function text, keywords and locations (REST API)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000128917","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000128917/associations","note":"association with cancer (MONDO_0004992) 0.60;  (GraphQL API, CC0)"}],"specificity":"tumour-associated","distribution":"not-established","specificityNote":"Tumour-associated overexpression: 1 antibody (Tovecimig) aim at the antigen, which HPA finds with no normal tissue stained high; the medicine relies on the tumour carrying more of it than the normal tissue it shares it with. HPA DLL4: RNA low tissue specificity; no normal tissue stained high. Distribution: no corpus cancer carries a prevalence row, threshold or catalogue link for it; Open Targets associates it with 0 specific cancer types at or above 0.5. (Rule 5 of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts.)","specificitySources":[{"label":"Human Protein Atlas DLL4 tissue","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000128917-DLL4/tissue","note":"RNA tissue and blood lineage specificity, normal tissue antibody staining (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Human Protein Atlas DLL4 pathology","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000128917-DLL4/pathology","note":"patients per staining level per cancer type (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000128917 associations","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000128917/associations","note":"cancer associations at or above 0.5 (CC0)"}],"hgnc":"HGNC:2910","ensembl":"ENSG00000128917","uniprot":"Q9NR61","entrez":"54567","firstDescribed":2000,"firstDescribedBasis":"sequence","firstDescribedNote":"Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Shutter J.R. et al, Genes Dev, 2000, \"Dll4, a novel Notch ligand expressed in arterial endothelium\".","firstDescribedSource":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10837024/","biology":"Involved in the Notch signalling pathway as Notch ligand. Activates NOTCH1 and NOTCH4. Involved in angiogenesis; negatively regulates endothelial cell proliferation and migration and angiogenic sprouting. Essential for retinal progenitor proliferation. Required for suppressing rod fates in late retinal progenitors as well as for proper generation of other retinal cell types. During spinal cord neurogenesis, inhibits V2a interneuron fate. Location: Cell membrane (UniProt). Locus 15q15.1 (HGNC).","whereFound":[],"targetClass":"surface-antigen","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/dll4/","neighbours":{"collection":[{"id":"open-targets","kind":"collection","name":"Open Targets Platform","route":"/collections/open-targets/"}],"drug":[{"id":"tovecimig","kind":"drug","name":"Tovecimig","route":"/drugs/tovecimig/"}]}}