AVEN

gene
On this page

Also known as PDCD12

Summary

AVEN (apoptosis and caspase activation inhibitor, HGNC:13509) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 15q14, encoding Cell death regulator Aven (Q9NQS1). Protects against apoptosis mediated by Apaf-1.

Involved in negative regulation of apoptotic process. Located in membrane.

Source: NCBI Gene 57099 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • GWAS associations: 3
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 290 total — 1 likely-pathogenic
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_020371

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:13509
Approved symbolAVEN
Nameapoptosis and caspase activation inhibitor
Location15q14
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
AliasesPDCD12
Ensembl geneENSG00000169857
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM605265
Entrez57099

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 6 — 3 protein_coding, 2 protein_coding_CDS_not_defined, 1 nonsense_mediated_decay

ENST00000306730, ENST00000558136, ENST00000560649, ENST00000675287, ENST00000964282, ENST00000964283

RefSeq mRNA: 1 — MANE Select: NM_020371 NM_020371

CCDS: CCDS10030

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000306730 — 6 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE000011425663386749533867855
ENSE000012103063400303234003209
ENSE000012358193386622733866728
ENSE000012358293403878034039204
ENSE000034592363387093533871030
ENSE000036206773387592533875995

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 252 present calls, max score 91.25.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth ubiquitous, TPM avg 17.8554 / max 275.0111, expressed in 1794 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (1 alternative TSS)

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
14922117.85541794

Top tissues by expression

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

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
heart right ventricleUBERON:000208091.25gold quality
cervix squamous epitheliumUBERON:000692291.18silver quality
ascending aortaUBERON:000149689.67gold quality
gluteal muscleUBERON:000200089.50gold quality
thoracic aortaUBERON:000151589.48gold quality
heart left ventricleUBERON:000208489.17gold quality
cardiac ventricleUBERON:000208288.99gold quality
gastrocnemiusUBERON:000138888.73gold quality
apex of heartUBERON:000209888.35gold quality
gingival epitheliumUBERON:000194988.15gold quality
muscle of legUBERON:000138387.97gold quality
left ventricle myocardiumUBERON:000656687.91silver quality
deciduaUBERON:000245087.85gold quality
skeletal muscle tissue of rectus abdominisUBERON:000451187.75silver quality
right coronary arteryUBERON:000162587.71gold quality
left coronary arteryUBERON:000162687.54gold quality
myocardiumUBERON:000234987.45silver quality
muscle organUBERON:000163087.36gold quality
aortaUBERON:000094786.77gold quality
heartUBERON:000094886.76gold quality
oocyteCL:000002386.68gold quality
primordial germ cell in gonadCL:0000670 ∩ UBERON:000099186.67gold quality
coronary arteryUBERON:000162186.62gold quality
gingivaUBERON:000182886.51gold quality
vastus lateralisUBERON:000137986.14silver quality
descending thoracic aortaUBERON:000234585.61gold quality
quadriceps femorisUBERON:000137785.60silver quality
diaphragmUBERON:000110385.51gold quality
biceps brachiiUBERON:000150785.46gold quality
skeletal muscle tissueUBERON:000113485.44gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 3 experiment(s), a significant marker in 1.

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-ANND-3yes3.75
E-GEOD-124858no124.59
E-MTAB-4850no17.20

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

28 targeting AVEN, 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-30A-5P100.0076.313233
HSA-MIR-30B-5P100.0076.293248
HSA-MIR-30C-5P100.0076.293248
HSA-MIR-30D-5P100.0076.323233
HSA-MIR-30E-5P100.0076.323242
HSA-MIR-4476100.0068.182030
HSA-MIR-6876-5P100.0067.682126
HSA-MIR-4533100.0069.482758
HSA-MIR-141-3P99.9472.792421
HSA-MIR-200A-3P99.9472.682420
HSA-MIR-605-3P99.8869.221833
HSA-MIR-6715B-5P99.6469.631420
HSA-MIR-26A-1-3P99.6466.81788
HSA-MIR-26A-2-3P99.6466.82786
HSA-MIR-426999.5569.891373
HSA-MIR-105-5P99.5469.242060
HSA-MIR-7853-5P99.5469.302055
HSA-MIR-431299.3467.30511
HSA-MIR-429199.2068.882969
HSA-MIR-1537-5P98.7068.33999
HSA-MIR-548S98.5067.171213
HSA-MIR-338-3P98.1467.381137
HSA-MIR-10395-3P98.1066.701726
HSA-MIR-397798.0068.171500
HSA-MIR-892B98.0067.11821
HSA-MIR-63497.7467.11818
HSA-MIR-63097.5066.38921
HSA-MIR-93897.4168.28656

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 16)

  • Aven expression was found to be higher in patients >or=10 years old or <1 year, and with unfavorable cytogenetic abnormalities. It was also significantly higher in relapsed patients in the standard-risk group and an independent poor prognostic factor. (PMID:16388850)
  • point mutation observed by transcriptome sequencing of malignant pleural mesothelioma tumors (PMID:18303113)
  • These results identify Aven as a new ATM activator and describe a positive feedback loop operating between Aven and ATM; in aggregate, these findings place Aven, a known apoptotic inhibitor, as a critical transducer of the DNA-damage signal. (PMID:18571408)
  • the expression level of aven mRNA in de novo AML patients obviously increases (PMID:20030919)
  • Results suggest that the regulation of Exportin-1/CRM1-dependent nucleocytoplasmatic traffic of Aven could modulate its ability to influence cell cycle progression. (PMID:20935510)
  • The results suggest that deregulation of the expression of the apoptosis inhibitor Aven may be related to male factor infertility. (PMID:21718987)
  • a model of Aven activation by which its N-terminal inhibitory domain is removed by CathD-mediated proteolysis, thereby unleashing its cytoprotective function. (PMID:22388353)
  • Overexpression of the anti-apoptotic protein AVEN contributes to increased malignancy in hematopoietic neoplasms. (PMID:22751129)
  • the expression of Aven is regulated by the Akt signaling pathway through cathepsin D activity, which contributes to the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents. (PMID:25573060)
  • The findings implicate Aven in ATR-Chk1 signalling and point towards Chk1 inhibition as a strategy to sensitize human osteosarcomas to chemotherapy. (PMID:25757065)
  • The Aven RGG/RG motif bound G4 structures within the coding regions of the MLL1 and MLL4 mRNAs increasing their polysomal association and translation, resulting in the induction of transcription of leukemic genes. (PMID:26267306)
  • AVEN and BIRC6 are inhibited by combination therapy of miR-30e and proanthocyanidin in glioblastoma stem cells (PMID:27388765)
  • Expression of granulosa cell microRNAs, AVEN and ATRX are associated with human blastocyst development. (PMID:29693772)
  • MiR-30b-5p expression was found to be significantly upregulated in hypoxic cardiomyocytes, AC16 cells. The in vitro experiments showed that downregulation of miR-30b-5p effectively alleviated hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte injury. Aven is a potential target gene of miR-30b-5p and its downregulation could partially reverse the influence of miR-30b-5p knockdown on AC16 cells under hypoxia. (PMID:31768184)
  • MicroRNA-30a contributes to pre-eclampsia through regulating the proliferation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis modulation potential of mesenchymal stem cells by targeting AVEN. (PMID:35322749)
  • Downregulation of apoptotic repressor AVEN exacerbates cardiac injury after myocardial infarction. (PMID:37816050)

Cross-species orthologs

3 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
danio_rerioavenENSDARG00000002894
mus_musculusAvenENSMUSG00000003604
rattus_norvegicusAvenENSRNOG00000006419

Protein

Protein identifiers

Cell death regulator AvenQ9NQS1 (reviewed: Q9NQS1)

All UniProt accessions (2): Q9NQS1, H0YKR0

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Protects against apoptosis mediated by Apaf-1.

Subunit / interactions. Binds Apaf-1, BCL-2 and BAD (Bcl-xl).

Subcellular location. Endomembrane system.

Tissue specificity. Highly expressed in testis, ovary, thymus, prostate, spleen, small intestine, colon, heart, skeletal muscle, liver, kidney and pancreas.

RefSeq proteins (1): NP_065104* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR026187AvenFamily

UniProt features (13 total): compositionally biased region 6, region of interest 3, modified residue 2, chain 1, sequence variant 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

0 structures.

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-Q9NQS1-F158.860.06

Functional residue map

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

Post-translational modifications (2): 94, 230

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

7 pathways

IDPathway
R-HSA-111458Formation of apoptosome
R-HSA-9627069Regulation of the apoptosome activity
R-HSA-109581Apoptosis
R-HSA-109606Intrinsic Pathway for Apoptosis
R-HSA-111461Cytochrome c-mediated apoptotic response
R-HSA-111471Apoptotic factor-mediated response
R-HSA-5357801Programmed Cell Death

MSigDB gene sets: 133 (showing top): GSE45365_CD8A_DC_VS_CD11B_DC_IFNAR_KO_DN, GSE18804_BRAIN_VS_COLON_TUMORAL_MACROPHAGE_DN, GSE18804_SPLEEN_MACROPHAGE_VS_TUMORAL_MACROPHAGE_DN, RODRIGUES_THYROID_CARCINOMA_POORLY_DIFFERENTIATED_UP, GOBP_CELL_CYCLE_PHASE_TRANSITION, chr15q14, MONNIER_POSTRADIATION_TUMOR_ESCAPE_UP, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_CELL_CYCLE_G2_M_PHASE_TRANSITION, GOBP_NEGATIVE_REGULATION_OF_CELL_CYCLE_PROCESS, GOBP_NEGATIVE_REGULATION_OF_CELL_CYCLE, BLALOCK_ALZHEIMERS_DISEASE_UP, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_CELL_CYCLE, GOBP_NEGATIVE_REGULATION_OF_MITOTIC_CELL_CYCLE, GOBP_MITOTIC_CELL_CYCLE, GOBP_CELL_CYCLE_G2_M_PHASE_TRANSITION

GO Biological Process (3): apoptotic process (GO:0006915), negative regulation of G2/M transition of mitotic cell cycle (GO:0010972), negative regulation of apoptotic process (GO:0043066)

GO Molecular Function (1): protein binding (GO:0005515)

GO Cellular Component (3): cytosol (GO:0005829), endomembrane system (GO:0012505), membrane (GO:0016020)

Reactome top-level categories

Rollup of top-6 pathways:

CategoryPathways
Cytochrome c-mediated apoptotic response1
Formation of apoptosome1
Programmed Cell Death1
Apoptosis1
Apoptotic factor-mediated response1
Intrinsic Pathway for Apoptosis1

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

CategoryTerms
cellular anatomical structure3
programmed cell death1
apoptotic signaling pathway1
execution phase of apoptosis1
G2/M transition of mitotic cell cycle1
regulation of G2/M transition of mitotic cell cycle1
negative regulation of mitotic cell cycle phase transition1
negative regulation of cell cycle G2/M phase transition1
apoptotic process1
regulation of apoptotic process1
negative regulation of programmed cell death1
binding1
cytoplasm1
vacuole1
plasma membrane1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

594 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
AVENAPAF1O14727961
AVENBCL2L1Q07817957
AVENFOCADQ5VW36627
AVENCASP9P55211583
AVENDHX36Q9H2U1503
AVENBNIP5P0C671468
AVENTTC7BQ86TV6425
AVENCASP8Q14790408
AVENWTIPA6NIX2393
AVENRPL39P02404390
AVENMAGED4BQ96JG8378
AVENCASP5P51878369
AVENSEC63Q9UGP8369
AVENHIPK4Q8NE63364
AVENABLIM2Q6H8Q1363
AVENNDC1Q9BTX1363

IntAct

15 interactions, top by confidence:

ABTypeScore
SDC1ILVBLpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.400
APAF1AVENpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.400
AVENAPAF1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.400
Rpl35RPS6psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
RPL10RPS6psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
Rrbp1PIPSLpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
HNRNPUpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
Xpo1IFT56psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
DRG1RPS3Apsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
PSPC1MCRIP1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
RBM8AMCRIP1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
RPS16MCRIP1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
ANAPC15U2SURPpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
DDX55URB1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350

BioGRID (41): AVEN (Affinity Capture-RNA), AVEN (Affinity Capture-RNA), AVEN (Affinity Capture-MS), AVEN (Affinity Capture-MS), AVEN (Affinity Capture-MS), AVEN (Affinity Capture-MS), AVEN (Affinity Capture-MS), AVEN (Two-hybrid), Atm (Two-hybrid), atm (Reconstituted Complex), ATM (Affinity Capture-Western), AVEN (Proximity Label-MS), AVEN (Proximity Label-MS), AVEN (Proximity Label-MS), AVEN (Proximity Label-MS)

ESM2 similar proteins: A0A088MLT8, A5PJX4, B3KU38, P04198, P07516, P0DPB3, P0DPB4, P12755, P18302, P18444, P49796, P97432, Q0D2K3, Q14DQ1, Q15554, Q1W6H9, Q2KI80, Q2WG76, Q3ZK22, Q5E9K8, Q5FVM3, Q5TAB7, Q5VT97, Q5XI52, Q5XKK7, Q61976, Q6J4I0, Q6P2K3, Q80YE2, Q8C4S8, Q8CEG5, Q8IWP9, Q8N344, Q8NE31, Q924S9, Q96A56, Q96MH2, Q9BQ61, Q9BUN5, Q9CZ05

Diamond homologs: Q9D9K3, Q9NQS1

SIGNOR signaling

3 interactions.

AEffectBMechanism
ATM“up-regulates activity”AVENphosphorylation
AVEN“up-regulates activity”ATMbinding

Enriched among interaction partners

Reactome pathways and GO biological processes over-represented among this gene’s 21 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
Nonsense Mediated Decay (NMD) enhanced by the Exon Junction Complex (EJC)537.5×2e-05
Regulation of expression of SLITs and ROBOs526.6×6e-05

GO biological processes:

GO termPartnersFoldFDR
cytoplasmic translation557.9×2e-06

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

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

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic1
Uncertain significance199
Likely benign52
Benign9

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (1)

Variant IDHGVSClassification
979414GRCh37/hg19 15q13.1-14(chr15:28709714-34506805)x3Likely pathogenic

SpliceAI

3185 predictions. Top by Δscore:

VariantEffectΔscore
15:33859570:TCTA:Tacceptor_loss1.0000
15:33859571:CTAGT:Cacceptor_loss1.0000
15:33859572:TAG:Tacceptor_loss1.0000
15:33859573:A:AGacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33859573:AGT:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33859574:G:GAacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33859574:GT:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33859574:GTG:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33859574:GTGT:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33859574:GTGTT:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33859729:AAG:Adonor_loss1.0000
15:33859730:AGGTA:Adonor_loss1.0000
15:33859732:G:Cdonor_loss1.0000
15:33859733:T:Gdonor_loss1.0000
15:33860658:AGGTA:Adonor_loss1.0000
15:33860659:GGTAA:Gdonor_loss1.0000
15:33860661:T:Gdonor_loss1.0000
15:33861179:G:GGdonor_gain1.0000
15:33865125:TTTCA:Tacceptor_loss1.0000
15:33865126:TTCA:Tacceptor_loss1.0000
15:33865128:CAGG:Cacceptor_loss1.0000
15:33865129:AGGA:Aacceptor_loss1.0000
15:33866724:ACAAA:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33866725:CAAA:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33866725:CAAAC:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33866726:AAA:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33866727:AA:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
15:33866728:AC:Aacceptor_loss1.0000
15:33866729:C:Aacceptor_loss1.0000
15:33866729:C:CCacceptor_gain1.0000

AlphaMissense

2311 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

VariantProtein changeam_pathogenicity
15:33866632:A:GL357S0.999
15:33875977:A:GF155S0.998
15:34003123:C:AW118C0.998
15:34003123:C:GW118C0.998
15:34003125:A:GW118R0.998
15:34003125:A:TW118R0.998
15:33875976:G:CF155L0.996
15:33875976:G:TF155L0.996
15:33875978:A:GF155L0.996
15:34003054:G:CF141L0.996
15:34003054:G:TF141L0.996
15:34003056:A:GF141L0.996
15:34003141:T:AR112S0.996
15:34003141:T:GR112S0.996
15:33866636:A:GW356R0.995
15:33866636:A:TW356R0.995
15:34003046:A:GL144P0.995
15:33866620:A:GI361T0.994
15:33866634:C:AW356C0.994
15:33866634:C:GW356C0.994
15:33875952:C:AW163C0.994
15:33875952:C:GW163C0.994
15:33875954:A:GW163R0.994
15:33875954:A:TW163R0.994
15:33875971:A:GF157S0.994
15:33875977:A:CF155C0.994
15:33866620:A:CI361S0.993
15:34003046:A:TL144H0.993
15:34003055:A:GF141S0.993
15:34003043:A:GL145P0.992

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000006925 (15:34053652 TCCTTATA>T), RS1000008054 (15:34069352 T>G), RS1000010523 (15:33883620 T>C), RS1000011239 (15:33945427 T>A), RS1000033054 (15:33979250 G>A,T), RS1000035772 (15:33891324 T>C,G), RS1000060238 (15:33956487 G>A), RS1000060906 (15:33883868 A>C,G), RS1000089211 (15:33996366 A>G), RS1000106212 (15:33903414 C>T), RS1000108469 (15:33867650 G>A,C), RS1000113118 (15:33974018 A>G), RS1000114881 (15:34003465 T>A,C), RS1000143686 (15:33969879 T>C), RS1000161863 (15:33912077 T>C)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:605265 | disease phenotypes: MIM:617468, MIM:208150

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (3): primary amenorrhea (MONDO:1060208), arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (MONDO:0015168), fetal akinesia deformation sequence 1 (MONDO:0100101)

Orphanet (2): Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (Orphanet:1037), Fetal akinesia deformation sequence (Orphanet:994)

HPO phenotypes

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

GWAS associations

3 associations (top):

StudyTraitp-value
GCST010725_22Malaria3.000000e-06
GCST010725_37Malaria3.000000e-06
GCST010725_54Malaria5.000000e-06

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

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

CTD chemical–gene interactions

43 total (human), top 30 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
Valproic Acidaffects expression, decreases expression, decreases methylation6
Cyclosporineincreases expression3
sodium arsenitedecreases expression, increases abundance, increases expression2
Air Pollutantsincreases expression, decreases expression, increases abundance2
Benzo(a)pyrenedecreases expression, decreases methylation, affects methylation2
Fluorouracildecreases expression, increases expression2
Cadmium Chlorideincreases abundance, increases expression, decreases expression2
Particulate Matterincreases abundance, increases expression, decreases expression2
FR900359increases phosphorylation1
propylparabenincreases expression1
nobiletindecreases expression, decreases reaction1
sodium arsenatedecreases expression, decreases reaction1
arseniteaffects binding, increases reaction1
methylparabenincreases expression1
cupric chlorideincreases expression1
phenanthrenedecreases expression1
di-n-butylphosphoric acidaffects expression1
CGP 52608affects binding, increases reaction1
entinostatdecreases expression1
belinostatdecreases expression1
ICG 001increases expression1
4-(4-((5-(4,5-dimethyl-2-nitrophenyl)-2-furanyl)methylene)-4,5-dihydro-3-methyl-5-oxo-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)benzoic acidincreases expression1
Gefitinibaffects response to substance1
Temozolomideincreases expression1
Vorinostatdecreases expression1
Arsenicincreases abundance, increases expression1
Cadmiumincreases abundance, increases expression1
Caffeinedecreases phosphorylation1
Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethyleneincreases expression1
Drugs, Chinese Herbalincreases expression1

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

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

TrialPhaseStatusTitle
NCT07164248Not specifiedCOMPLETEDEvaluation of Bone Mineral Density Indications and Outcomes in Female Adolescents: Implications for Early Detection of Osteopenia/Osteoporosis and Gynecologic Practice
NCT05393375Not specifiedCOMPLETEDArthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita in Pediatric Age: Correlation Between MUScular MRI and Functional Evaluation
NCT05673265Not specifiedUNKNOWNPediatric and Adult Registry for Patients With ARThrogryposis
NCT06130592Not specifiedUNKNOWNTechnical Feasibility Study of Ultrasound Muscle Imaging in Antenatal Ultrasound
NCT07360574Not specifiedNOT_YET_RECRUITINGPiezo2-related Arthrogryposis & physiopathOLOgy 3