{"entity":{"id":"prkaa2","kind":"target","name":"PRKAA2","aka":["protein kinase AMP-activated catalytic subunit alpha 2","5'-AMP-activated protein kinase catalytic subunit alpha-2","AMPKa2","PRKAA"],"tldr":"PRKAA2 (5'-AMP-activated protein kinase catalytic subunit alpha-2) is a protein kinase, an enzyme that switches other proteins on by adding phosphate groups. The public catalogues list it as a drug target and a biomarker, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response.","summary":"Catalytic subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an energy sensor protein kinase that plays a key role in regulating cellular energy metabolism. In response to reduction of intracellular ATP levels, AMPK activates energy-producing pathways and inhibits energy-consuming processes: inhibits protein, carbohydrate and lipid biosynthesis, as well as cell growth and proliferation. AMPK acts via direct phosphorylation of metabolic enzymes, and by longer-term effects via phosphorylation of transcription regulators.\n\nCIViC holds 1 clinical evidence item and 0 assertions across 1 variant, naming ACLY SiRNA.","asOf":"2026-09-23","links":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:9377","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:9377"},{"label":"UniProt P54646","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P54646/entry"},{"label":"NCBI Gene 5563","url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/5563"},{"label":"Ensembl ENSG00000162409","url":"https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000162409"}],"tags":["cancer-genes-wave"],"related":["civic"],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":["autophagy","lipid-metabolism-cancer"],"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: CIViC lists 1 therapies; CIViC holds 1 clinical evidence items on its variants. 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":"PRKAA2","role":["drug-target","biomarker"],"evidenceTier":"clinical-evidence","sources":[{"label":"HGNC HGNC:9377","url":"https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:9377","note":"approved symbol, name, aliases, locus and cross-references (hgnc_complete_set.txt)"},{"label":"UniProt P54646","url":"https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P54646/entry","note":"protein name, function text, keywords and locations (REST API)"},{"label":"CIViC gene PRKAA2","url":"https://civicdb.org/features/4503","note":"1 evidence items, 0 assertions, 1 variants; diseases: Cancer (GraphQL API, CC0)"}],"distribution":"not-established","specificityNote":"Specificity not established: no corpus medicine is aimed at it and the catalogues give it only the roles drug-target, biomarker; HPA finds the RNA tissue enhanced, which says where the protein sits but not whether the tumour differs from normal tissue. HPA PRKAA2: RNA tissue enhanced (heart muscle 38 nTPM, skeletal muscle 36 nTPM, tongue 34 nTPM); high antibody staining in 3 normal tissues. 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. (No rule of scripts/fetch-target-specificity.ts fired.)","specificitySources":[{"label":"Human Protein Atlas PRKAA2 tissue","url":"https://www.proteinatlas.org/ENSG00000162409-PRKAA2/tissue","note":"RNA tissue and blood lineage specificity, normal tissue antibody staining (version 25.1, CC BY-SA 3.0)"},{"label":"Open Targets ENSG00000162409 associations","url":"https://platform.opentargets.org/target/ENSG00000162409/associations","note":"cancer associations at or above 0.5 (CC0)"}],"hgnc":"HGNC:9377","ensembl":"ENSG00000162409","uniprot":"P54646","entrez":"5563","firstDescribed":1994,"firstDescribedBasis":"sequence","firstDescribedNote":"Earliest sequence paper UniProt cites for the protein: Aguan et al, Gene, 1994, \"Characterization and chromosomal localization of the human homologue of a rat AMP-activated protein kinase-encoding gene: a major regulator of lipid metabolism in mammals\".","firstDescribedSource":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7959015/","biology":"Catalytic subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an energy sensor protein kinase that plays a key role in regulating cellular energy metabolism. In response to reduction of intracellular ATP levels, AMPK activates energy-producing pathways and inhibits energy-consuming processes: inhibits protein, carbohydrate and lipid biosynthesis, as well as cell growth and proliferation. AMPK acts via direct phosphorylation of metabolic enzymes, and by longer-term effects via phosphorylation of transcription regulators. Regulates lipid synthesis by phosphorylating and inactivating lipid metabolic enzymes such as ACACA, ACACB, GYS1, HMGCR and LIPE; regulates fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis by phosphorylating acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACACA and ACACB) and hormone-sensitive lipase (LIPE) enzymes, respectively. Promotes lipolysis of lipid droplets by mediating phosphorylation of isoform 1 of CHKA (CHKalpha2). Regulates insulin-signalling and glycolysis by phosphorylating IRS1, PFKFB2 and PFKFB3. Location: Cytoplasm; Nucleus; Late endosome (UniProt). Locus 1p32.2 (HGNC).","whereFound":[],"targetClass":"kinase","prevalence":[]},"route":"/targets/prkaa2/","neighbours":{"collection":[{"id":"civic","kind":"collection","name":"CIViC","route":"/collections/civic/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"autophagy","kind":"pathway","name":"Autophagy","route":"/pathways/autophagy/"},{"id":"lipid-metabolism-cancer","kind":"pathway","name":"Lipid synthesis, uptake & cholesterol","route":"/pathways/lipid-metabolism-cancer/"}]}}