ADAM21

gene
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Also known as ADAM31

Summary

ADAM21 (ADAM metallopeptidase domain 21, HGNC:200) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 14q24.2, encoding Disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain-containing protein 21 (Q9UKJ8). May be involved in sperm maturation and/or fertilization.

This gene encodes a member of the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloprotease domain) family. Members of this family are membrane-anchored proteins structurally related to snake venom disintegrins, and have been implicated in a variety of biological processes involving cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, including fertilization, muscle development, and neurogenesis. The expression of this gene expression is testis-specific.

Source: NCBI Gene 8747 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • GWAS associations: 2
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 114 total
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_003813

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:200
Approved symbolADAM21
NameADAM metallopeptidase domain 21
Location14q24.2
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
AliasesADAM31
Ensembl geneENSG00000139985
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM603713
Entrez8747

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 4 — 4 protein_coding

ENST00000603540, ENST00000679631, ENST00000942462, ENST00000942463

RefSeq mRNA: 1 — MANE Select: NM_003813 NM_003813

CCDS: CCDS9804

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000603540 — 2 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE000024523327045217470452263
ENSE000035753937045734970459905

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 121 present calls, max score 94.51.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth tissue_specific, TPM avg 0.0146 / max 13.9836, expressed in 3 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (1 alternative TSS)

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
1404010.01463

Top tissues by expression

259 total, by Bgee expression score (0-100, higher = more expressed):

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
spermCL:000001994.51gold quality
male germ cellCL:000001590.66gold quality
male germ line stem cell (sensu Vertebrata) in testisCL:0000089 ∩ UBERON:000047377.61gold quality
secondary oocyteCL:000065576.53gold quality
right testisUBERON:000453471.38gold quality
left testisUBERON:000453371.10gold quality
testisUBERON:000047370.10gold quality
ileal mucosaUBERON:000033168.09gold quality
tibialis anteriorUBERON:000138567.96silver quality
buccal mucosa cellCL:000233663.72gold quality
oocyteCL:000002361.10silver quality
stromal cell of endometriumCL:000225560.48gold quality
pancreatic ductal cellCL:000207959.03silver quality
tendon of biceps brachiiUBERON:000818858.08gold quality
deciduaUBERON:000245056.55gold quality
endothelial cellCL:000011556.53gold quality
hair follicleUBERON:000207356.04gold quality
prefrontal cortexUBERON:000045155.86gold quality
right adrenal gland cortexUBERON:003582754.73gold quality
deltoidUBERON:000147654.35silver quality
tendonUBERON:000004354.06silver quality
right adrenal glandUBERON:000123353.81gold quality
left adrenal glandUBERON:000123453.32gold quality
lower lobe of lungUBERON:000894953.12gold quality
islet of LangerhansUBERON:000000652.73gold quality
calcaneal tendonUBERON:000370152.39silver quality
left adrenal gland cortexUBERON:003582552.11gold quality
quadriceps femorisUBERON:000137752.07gold quality
adrenal cortexUBERON:000123551.78gold quality
bone marrow cellCL:000209251.66gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 1 experiment(s), a significant marker in 0.

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-ANND-3no2.45

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

22 targeting ADAM21, top 30 by miRDB confidence (max_score; target_count = how many genes the miRNA targets in total — lower means more specific):

miRNAMax scoreAvg scoremiRNA target_count
HSA-MIR-4747-5P100.0067.902681
HSA-MIR-5196-5P100.0067.982761
HSA-MIR-4728-5P99.8569.394718
HSA-MIR-132199.8465.301811
HSA-MIR-473999.8465.251832
HSA-MIR-4756-5P99.8464.981809
HSA-MIR-6785-5P99.8268.684428
HSA-MIR-129999.7771.242389
HSA-MIR-6505-5P99.7369.251595
HSA-MIR-149-3P99.7268.223963
HSA-MIR-10393-3P99.7266.56961
HSA-MIR-6801-5P99.7266.50981
HSA-MIR-33A-3P99.7070.273362
HSA-MIR-6883-5P99.6968.053785
HSA-MIR-570099.6469.882280
HSA-MIR-6507-5P99.3670.462524
HSA-MIR-1301-3P98.6468.271071
HSA-MIR-504798.6468.621035
HSA-MIR-5011-3P98.6364.81638
HSA-MIR-950098.6266.541845
HSA-MIR-4536-5P98.4764.39657
HSA-MIR-1212896.6766.981471

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 1)

  • ADAM21 was overexpressed in KYN-2 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line, and its knockdown reduced invasion, migration, proliferation, and metastasis relative to controls. In HCC clinical specimens, ADAM21 positivity was associated with vascular invasion, large tumor size, high histological grade, and lower overall and recurrence-free survival as compared to cases that were negative for ADAM21 expression. (PMID:29138461)

Cross-species orthologs

10 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
danio_rerioadam10bENSDARG00000015502
danio_rerioadam10aENSDARG00000053468
danio_rerioadam9bENSDARG00000057138
danio_reriosi:ch1073-396h14.1ENSDARG00000057590
mus_musculusAdam21ENSMUSG00000008438
rattus_norvegicusLOC103690152ENSRNOG00000047682
drosophila_melanogastermmdFBGN0259110
drosophila_melanogasterkuzFBGN0259984
caenorhabditis_eleganssup-17WBGENE00006324
caenorhabditis_elegansWBGENE00006804

Paralogs (20): ADAM22 (ENSG00000008277), ADAM28 (ENSG00000042980), ADAM7 (ENSG00000069206), ADAM11 (ENSG00000073670), ADAM2 (ENSG00000104755), ADAM23 (ENSG00000114948), ADAM20 (ENSG00000134007), ADAMDEC1 (ENSG00000134028), ADAM30 (ENSG00000134249), ADAM19 (ENSG00000135074), ADAM10 (ENSG00000137845), ADAM15 (ENSG00000143537), ADAM12 (ENSG00000148848), ADAM33 (ENSG00000149451), ADAM8 (ENSG00000151651), ADAM17 (ENSG00000151694), ADAM29 (ENSG00000168594), ADAM9 (ENSG00000168615), ADAM18 (ENSG00000168619), ADAM32 (ENSG00000197140)

Protein

Protein identifiers

Disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain-containing protein 21Q9UKJ8 (reviewed: Q9UKJ8)

All UniProt accessions (1): Q9UKJ8

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. May be involved in sperm maturation and/or fertilization. May also be involved in epithelia functions associated with establishing and maintaining gradients of ions or nutrients.

Subcellular location. Membrane.

Post-translational modifications. Has no obvious cleavage site for furin endopeptidase, suggesting that the proteolytic processing is regulated.

Cofactor. Binds 1 zinc ion per subunit.

Domain organisation. A tripeptide motif (VGE) within disintegrin-like domain could be involved in the binding to egg integrin receptor and thus could mediate sperm/egg binding. The cysteine-rich domain encodes putative cell-fusion peptides, which could be involved in sperm-egg fusion. The conserved cysteine present in the cysteine-switch motif binds the catalytic zinc ion, thus inhibiting the enzyme. The dissociation of the cysteine from the zinc ion upon the activation-peptide release activates the enzyme.

Miscellaneous. May be the functional equivalent of ADAM 1/fertilin alpha which is a pseudogene in human.

RefSeq proteins (1): NP_003804* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR000742EGFDomain
IPR001590Peptidase_M12BDomain
IPR001762Disintegrin_domDomain
IPR002870Peptidase_M12B_NDomain
IPR006586ADAM_Cys-richDomain
IPR018358Disintegrin_CSConserved_site
IPR024079MetalloPept_cat_dom_sfHomologous_superfamily
IPR034027Reprolysin_adamalysinDomain
IPR036436Disintegrin_dom_sfHomologous_superfamily

Pfam: PF00200, PF01421, PF01562, PF08516

UniProt features (35 total): glycosylation site 7, disulfide bond 7, sequence conflict 6, binding site 4, domain 3, topological domain 2, signal peptide 1, propeptide 1, active site 1, chain 1, transmembrane region 1, short sequence motif 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

0 structures.

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-Q9UKJ8-F183.170.48

Functional residue map

Curated UniProt residues grouped by drug-discovery relevance — catalytic, ligand-binding, modification, and mutation-validated positions. Source: UniProtKB sequence features.

Catalytic / active sites (1): 342

Ligand- & substrate-binding residues (4): 173 (in inhibited form); 341; 345; 351

Disulfide bonds (7): 316–393, 356–378, 358–363, 464–484, 634–645, 639–651, 653–662

Glycosylation sites (7): 164, 227, 377, 437, 478, 546, 600

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

3 pathways

IDPathway
R-HSA-2534343Interaction With Cumulus Cells And The Zona Pellucida
R-HSA-1187000Fertilization
R-HSA-1474165Reproduction

MSigDB gene sets: 60 (showing top): GSE45365_CD8A_DC_VS_CD11B_DC_IFNAR_KO_MCMV_INFECTION_DN, GOBP_SINGLE_FERTILIZATION, GOMF_METALLOPEPTIDASE_ACTIVITY, XU_HGF_TARGETS_REPRESSED_BY_AKT1_DN, GOCC_CELL_SURFACE, chr14q24, GOBP_REPRODUCTIVE_SYSTEM_DEVELOPMENT, BLALOCK_ALZHEIMERS_DISEASE_UP, GOBP_SEX_DIFFERENTIATION, GOBP_DEVELOPMENTAL_PROCESS_INVOLVED_IN_REPRODUCTION, GOCC_NEURON_PROJECTION, GOBP_FERTILIZATION, GOBP_MALE_SEX_DIFFERENTIATION, GOBP_DEVELOPMENT_OF_PRIMARY_SEXUAL_CHARACTERISTICS, GOCC_SIDE_OF_MEMBRANE

GO Biological Process (3): proteolysis (GO:0006508), single fertilization (GO:0007338), male gonad development (GO:0008584)

GO Molecular Function (6): metalloendopeptidase activity (GO:0004222), metallopeptidase activity (GO:0008237), metal ion binding (GO:0046872), protein binding (GO:0005515), peptidase activity (GO:0008233), hydrolase activity (GO:0016787)

GO Cellular Component (7): plasma membrane (GO:0005886), external side of plasma membrane (GO:0009897), axon (GO:0030424), neuronal cell body (GO:0043025), sperm head plasma membrane (GO:1990913), membrane (GO:0016020), neuron projection (GO:0043005)

Reactome top-level categories

Rollup of top-2 pathways:

CategoryPathways
Fertilization1
Reproduction1

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

CategoryTerms
protein metabolic process1
fertilization1
gonad development1
development of primary male sexual characteristics1
endopeptidase activity1
metallopeptidase activity1
peptidase activity1
cation binding1
binding1
hydrolase activity1
catalytic activity, acting on a protein1
catalytic activity1
membrane1
cell periphery1
plasma membrane1
cell surface1
side of membrane1
neuron projection1
somatodendritic compartment1
cell body1
sperm head1
sperm plasma membrane1
plasma membrane region1
cellular anatomical structure1
plasma membrane bounded cell projection1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

466 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
ADAM21TEX55Q96M34433
ADAM21OR2T27Q8NH04400
ADAM21MAGEB6BA0A0J9YX57394
ADAM21A0A087WYV9A0A087WYV9392
ADAM21FAM228AQ86W67370
ADAM21CNBD2Q96M20351
ADAM21KRT38O76015348
ADAM21PRSS54Q6PEW0325
ADAM21IQCF1Q8N6M8324
ADAM21ADAMTSL5Q6ZMM2323
ADAM21TEKTIP1A6NCJ1323
ADAM21ADAMTSL2Q86TH1321
ADAM21PLEKHD1A6NEE1320
ADAM21PRSS55Q6UWB4313
ADAM21SYNJ2BPP57105306
ADAM21COX16Q9P0S2306

IntAct

43 interactions, top by confidence:

ABTypeScore
CRIPTOAIPpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.640
SGTAADAM21psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
CNR2ADAM21psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
SCGB1D1FAM234Bpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
ADAM21PLXNA2psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
CTSGMANBApsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
ADAMTS4MANBApsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
FGAADAM21psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.400
ADAM21PLXNB2psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
PATE1MANBApsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
APOMESYT2psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
HLA-GTMEM131Lpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
BTNL2TMEM131Lpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
SFTPCTMEM131Lpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
BRICD5TMEM131Lpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
LY86TMEM131Lpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
GMLPOTEFpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
TMEM87APOTEFpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
CD48POTEFpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
LDLRAD1ZNF316psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
PRG2QSOX1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
CST9LQSOX1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
RLN1MANBApsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
GGHMANBApsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
LYZL1MAN2B1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
SLURP1MAN2B1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
CLEC2BADAM10psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
SIRPDADAM10psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350

BioGRID (82): PCSK1N (Affinity Capture-MS), VEGFB (Affinity Capture-MS), ADAM21 (Affinity Capture-MS), AMIGO1 (Affinity Capture-MS), HLA-B (Affinity Capture-MS), EGFL7 (Affinity Capture-MS), ITGB5 (Affinity Capture-MS), GNB2 (Affinity Capture-MS), CANX (Affinity Capture-MS), DHFRL1 (Affinity Capture-MS), PLXNA2 (Affinity Capture-MS), LRRC3 (Affinity Capture-MS), CCPG1 (Affinity Capture-MS), LCLAT1 (Affinity Capture-MS), MANF (Affinity Capture-MS)

ESM2 similar proteins: A1A547, A6QPN6, D2GZV9, E1BPW0, O18956, O75356, O75594, O93295, P10852, P15396, P22413, P49961, P55772, P57110, P70665, P82450, P97535, P97687, Q0V8L2, Q0VB07, Q53H76, Q58CQ9, Q5E9H0, Q5R5M5, Q5RBQ5, Q5RFU0, Q67BJ4, Q6P6S9, Q6YGZ1, Q71RP1, Q794F9, Q8K0L2, Q8TE60, Q8VI78, Q95194, Q96LB8, Q96LB9, Q99JP7, Q99MZ4, Q9HAT2

Diamond homologs: A3R0T9, A8QL59, B8K1W0, C5FUK3, C5H5D1, C5H5D3, C5H5D5, C5H5D6, D3TTC1, D4B1G0, D4DCV9, D6PXE8, F8RKW1, F8VQ03, G5EDW5, O14672, O35598, O35674, O42138, O43184, O73795, O77633, O93517, O93518, O93523, P0C6E3, P0C6R9, P0DJ87, P0DM87, P15503, P17497, P82942, P83912, P86092, P97776, Q05910, Q076D1, Q0NZX7, Q0NZY0, Q10741

SIGNOR signaling

0 interactions.

Enriched among interaction partners

Reactome pathways and GO biological processes over-represented among this gene’s 53 IntAct physical interaction partners (hypergeometric vs the genome-wide background, BH-FDR, gene-set size 15–500, ranked by fold). A functional readout of the neighbourhood — distinct from this gene’s own memberships above, and biased toward well-studied / hub proteins, so read it as themes rather than proof.

Reactome pathways:

PathwayPartnersFoldFDR
Regulation of Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF) transport and uptake by Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins (IGFBPs)512.0×6e-03
Neutrophil degranulation85.1×8e-03

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

114 variants total. Per-class counts are floors (≥ shown; pagination cap):

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic0
Uncertain significance99
Likely benign9
Benign0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

73 predictions. Top by Δscore:

VariantEffectΔscore
14:70452260:GATG:Gdonor_gain1.0000
14:70452264:G:GAdonor_loss1.0000
14:70452264:G:GGdonor_gain1.0000
14:70452261:ATG:Adonor_gain0.9900
14:70452262:TG:Tdonor_gain0.9900
14:70452263:GG:Gdonor_gain0.9900
14:70452265:TAA:Tdonor_loss0.9900
14:70452259:TGATG:Tdonor_gain0.9800
14:70452260:GATGG:Gdonor_gain0.9800
14:70457347:A:AGacceptor_gain0.9600
14:70457348:G:GGacceptor_gain0.9600
14:70457348:GC:Gacceptor_gain0.9500
14:70457348:GCA:Gacceptor_gain0.9500
14:70457344:TCCA:Tacceptor_loss0.9400
14:70457346:CA:Cacceptor_loss0.9400
14:70457347:A:ACacceptor_loss0.9400
14:70455260:C:Tdonor_gain0.9100
14:70457341:A:AGacceptor_gain0.9000
14:70457348:GCACT:Gacceptor_gain0.9000
14:70457348:GCAC:Gacceptor_gain0.8700
14:70457342:C:Gacceptor_gain0.8400
14:70457346:CAGCA:Cacceptor_gain0.8000
14:70457350:A:AGacceptor_gain0.7800
14:70457345:CCAG:Cacceptor_gain0.7600
14:70457347:AGCA:Aacceptor_gain0.7600
14:70457350:ACT:Aacceptor_gain0.7500
14:70457351:C:Gacceptor_gain0.7500
14:70457344:TCCAG:Tacceptor_gain0.7300
14:70457336:T:Gacceptor_gain0.7200
14:70457348:G:Tacceptor_gain0.6900

AlphaMissense

4811 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

VariantProtein changeam_pathogenicity
14:70458634:A:CS379R0.979
14:70458636:T:AS379R0.979
14:70458636:T:GS379R0.979
14:70458622:T:CF375L0.964
14:70458624:C:AF375L0.964
14:70458624:C:GF375L0.964
14:70458594:G:AM365I0.961
14:70458594:G:CM365I0.961
14:70458594:G:TM365I0.961
14:70459483:T:AC662S0.958
14:70459484:G:CC662S0.958
14:70458545:T:CM349T0.953
14:70459456:T:AC653S0.950
14:70459457:G:CC653S0.950
14:70459450:T:AC651S0.948
14:70459451:G:CC651S0.948
14:70458506:C:AA336D0.945
14:70459414:T:AC639S0.943
14:70459415:G:CC639S0.943
14:70459507:A:CS670R0.940
14:70459509:T:AS670R0.940
14:70459509:T:GS670R0.940
14:70458910:T:AC471S0.939
14:70458911:G:CC471S0.939
14:70458917:T:CL473P0.939
14:70458928:T:AC477S0.939
14:70458929:G:CC477S0.939
14:70458927:G:CW476C0.936
14:70458927:G:TW476C0.936
14:70458949:T:AC484S0.933

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000380098 (14:70452409 A>G), RS1004111235 (14:70450440 T>G), RS1004322370 (14:70455008 G>A), RS1004375011 (14:70454525 A>C), RS1004484799 (14:70450782 C>T), RS1005330924 (14:70456516 G>A), RS1005795022 (14:70456143 CAAA>C,CAA,CAAAA), RS1006140468 (14:70451608 C>G), RS1007728283 (14:70452112 G>A), RS1007876905 (14:70457814 C>T), RS1007877310 (14:70451132 G>A), RS1007908422 (14:70450866 C>A), RS1008681713 (14:70453525 A>G), RS1008734016 (14:70453263 A>G), RS1008785229 (14:70459783 A>G,T)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:603713 | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (0):

Orphanet (0):

HPO phenotypes

0 total (0 of 0 shown, HPO-id order):

GWAS associations

2 associations (top):

StudyTraitp-value
GCST004362_1Plasma estrone levels in resected estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer1.000000e-06
GCST012137_4Motor coordination2.000000e-06

EFO canonical traits (2, from GWAS)

EFO IDTrait name
EFO:0007970estrone measurement
EFO:0010749motor function measurement

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

PharmGKB: 1 entry (VIP=true, CPIC=false)

GtoPdb / IUPHAR curated pharmacology

(IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology — expert-curated)

Target class: enzyme — M12: Astacin/Adamalysin

CTD chemical–gene interactions

17 total (human), top 17 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
sodium arsenitedecreases expression, increases expression2
Benzo(a)pyrenedecreases expression, increases methylation2
testosterone enanthateaffects expression1
propionaldehydeincreases expression1
bisphenol Adecreases methylation1
2,4,5,2’,4’,5’-hexachlorobiphenylincreases expression1
sulforaphaneincreases expression1
butyraldehydedecreases expression1
S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)cysteineaffects response to substance, increases expression1
2,2’,4,4’-tetrabromodiphenyl etherincreases expression1
Cadmiumdecreases expression, increases abundance1
Lipopolysaccharidesaffects response to substance, increases expression1
Tobacco Smoke Pollutionincreases expression1
Valproic Aciddecreases methylation1
Aflatoxin B1decreases methylation1
Antirheumatic Agentsdecreases expression1
Cadmium Chloridedecreases expression, increases abundance1

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

0 trials via MONDO — disease-level, not drug-specific.

No linked Atlas pages yet — the cross-entity mesh grows as the corpus expands.