{"entity":{"id":"ncstn","kind":"target","name":"NCSTN","aka":["nicastrin","Nicastrin","KIAA0253","APH2"],"tldr":"NCSTN (Nicastrin) is a gene. The public catalogues list it as a drug target, and an approved or late-stage drug is recorded against it. Tied to Desmoid tumour.","summary":"Essential subunit of the gamma-secretase complex, an endoprotease complex that catalyses the intramembrane cleavage of integral membrane proteins such as Notch receptors and APP (amyloid-beta precursor protein). The gamma-secretase complex plays a role in Notch and Wnt signalling cascades and regulation of downstream processes via its role in processing key regulatory proteins, and by regulating cytosolic CTNNB1 levels.\n\n","asOf":"2026-09-23","links":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:17091","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:17091"},{"label":"UniProt Q92542","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q92542/entry"},{"label":"NCBI Gene 23385","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/23385"},{"label":"Ensembl ENSG00000162736","url":"https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000162736"}],"tags":["cancer-genes-wave"],"related":["open-targets"],"cancers":["desmoid-tumour"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"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 0.83. Evidence tier \"approved-drug\" 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":"NCSTN","role":["drug-target"],"evidenceTier":"approved-drug","sources":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:17091","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:17091","note":"approved symbol, name, aliases, locus and cross-references (hgnc_complete_set.txt)"},{"label":"UniProt Q92542","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q92542/entry","note":"protein name, function text, keywords and locations (REST API)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000162736","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000162736/associations","note":"per-cancer scores at or above 0.5: desmoid tumour 0.50 (GraphQL API, CC0)"}],"specificity":"broadly-expressed","distribution":"one-type","specificityNote":"Broadly expressed or essential: HPA finds the RNA at low tissue specificity; a medicine acting on the wild-type protein would expose normal tissue too. HPA NCSTN: RNA low tissue specificity; high antibody staining in 3 normal tissues; highest cancer staining melanoma (1 of 9 high). Distribution: 1 cancer family in the corpus carries a prevalence row, label threshold or catalogue link for it (Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)); Open Targets associates it with 1 specific cancer type at or above 0.5 (desmoid tumor). (Rule 7 of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts.)","specificitySources":[{"label":"Human Protein Atlas NCSTN tissue","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000162736-NCSTN/tissue","note":"RNA tissue and blood lineage specificity, normal tissue antibody staining (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000162736 associations","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000162736/associations","note":"cancer associations at or above 0.5 (CC0)"}],"hgnc":"HGNC:17091","ensembl":"ENSG00000162736","uniprot":"Q92542","entrez":"23385","firstDescribed":1996,"firstDescribedBasis":"sequence","firstDescribedNote":"Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Nagase et al, DNA Res, 1996, \"Prediction of the coding sequences of unidentified human genes. VI. The coding sequences of 80 new genes (KIAA0201-KIAA0280) deduced by analysis of cDNA clones from cell line KG-1 and brain\".","firstDescribedSource":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9039502/","biology":"Essential subunit of the gamma-secretase complex, an endoprotease complex that catalyses the intramembrane cleavage of integral membrane proteins such as Notch receptors and APP (amyloid-beta precursor protein). The gamma-secretase complex plays a role in Notch and Wnt signalling cascades and regulation of downstream processes via its role in processing key regulatory proteins, and by regulating cytosolic CTNNB1 levels. Location: Membrane; Cytoplasmic vesicle membrane; Melanosome (UniProt). Locus 1q23.2 (HGNC).","whereFound":["Desmoid tumour: Open Targets association 0.50 with desmoid tumour (MONDO_0007608)"],"targetClass":"other","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/ncstn/","neighbours":{"collection":[{"id":"open-targets","kind":"collection","name":"Open Targets Platform","route":"/collections/open-targets/"}],"cancer":[{"id":"desmoid-tumour","kind":"cancer","name":"Desmoid tumour","route":"/cancers/desmoid-tumour/"}]}}