Send feedback

CSN2

gene
On this page

Summary

CSN2 (casein beta, HGNC:2447) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 4q13.3, encoding Beta-casein (P05814). Important role in determination of the surface properties of the casein micelles.

This gene is a member of the beta casein family. There are two types of casein protein, beta (encoded by this gene) and kappa, both of which are secreted in human milk. Beta casein is the principal protein in human milk and the primary source of essential amino acids for a suckling infant. Beta and kappa casein proteins acting together form spherical micelles which bind within them important dietary minerals, such as calcium and phosphorous. In addition, the C-terminal 14 aa of the protein has antimicrobial activity, especially in preterm milk, displaying antibacterial activity against S. aureus and Y. enterocolitica. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants.

Source: NCBI Gene 1447 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 45 total
  • Constraint (gnomAD): pLI 0.00 (LoF-tolerant), LOEUF 1.17 (unconstrained)
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_001891

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:2447
Approved symbolCSN2
Namecasein beta
Location4q13.3
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
Ensembl geneENSG00000135222
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM115460
Entrez1447

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 1 — 1 protein_coding

MANE Select: ENST00000353151

Transcript support level (Ensembl TSL; 1 = fully mRNA-supported): TSL 1: 1

ENST00000353151

RefSeq mRNA: 3 — MANE Select: NM_001891 NM_001302770, NM_001385731, NM_001891

CCDS: CCDS3532

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000353151 — 8 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE000008652156995890969958953
ENSE000010245736996094569961007
ENSE000010245746996005369960079
ENSE000010245756995904969959069
ENSE000010245766995727469957804
ENSE000010765746995631469956355
ENSE000013956956995525669955592
ENSE000039355956996568169965728

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth broad, 42 present calls, max score 98.48.

Highest expression (Bgee): male germ line stem cell (sensu Vertebrata) in testis, tonsil, saliva-secreting gland, minor salivary gland, olfactory segment of nasal mucosa.

Genetic regulation across tissues (GTEx eQTL / sQTL)

CSN2 is not an eGene in any GTEx v10 tissue: no tissue shows a variant significantly associated with its expression or splicing (q < 0.05).

Top tissues by expression

showing 100 of 112 tissues by Bgee expression score (0-100, higher = more expressed):

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
male germ line stem cell (sensu Vertebrata) in testisCL:0000089 ∩ UBERON:000047398.48gold quality
tonsilUBERON:000237248.77gold quality
saliva-secreting glandUBERON:000104446.44gold quality
minor salivary glandUBERON:000183043.70gold quality
olfactory segment of nasal mucosaUBERON:000538642.08gold quality
sural nerveUBERON:001548838.02gold quality
islet of LangerhansUBERON:000000637.34gold quality
colonic epitheliumUBERON:000039737.20gold quality
ventricular zoneUBERON:000305336.48gold quality
cortical plateUBERON:000534336.47gold quality
bone marrow cellCL:000209236.16gold quality
ganglionic eminenceUBERON:000402335.49gold quality
smooth muscle tissueUBERON:000113534.85gold quality
placentaUBERON:000198733.81silver quality
muscle tissueUBERON:000238533.72gold quality
skeletal muscle tissueUBERON:000113433.38gold quality
hindlimb stylopod muscleUBERON:000425232.15gold quality
bone marrowUBERON:000237131.74gold quality
urinary bladderUBERON:000125530.10silver quality
stromal cell of endometriumCL:000225529.87gold quality
prefrontal cortexUBERON:000045129.04gold quality
pancreasUBERON:000126428.45gold quality
monocyteCL:000057628.16gold quality
duodenumUBERON:000211428.14gold quality
leukocyteCL:000073828.11gold quality
liverUBERON:000210728.04gold quality
lymph nodeUBERON:000002927.57gold quality
muscle of legUBERON:000138327.00silver quality
vermiform appendixUBERON:000115426.42gold quality
gastrocnemiusUBERON:000138826.25silver quality
muscle layer of sigmoid colonUBERON:003580526.04silver quality
gall bladderUBERON:000211025.98gold quality
thoracic mammary glandUBERON:000520025.95gold quality
primary visual cortexUBERON:000243624.61gold quality
frontal cortexUBERON:000187024.27gold quality
superior frontal gyrusUBERON:000266124.08gold quality
Ammon’s hornUBERON:000195424.02silver quality
kidneyUBERON:000211323.93gold quality
cortex of kidneyUBERON:000122523.81gold quality
stomachUBERON:000094523.29silver quality
endometriumUBERON:000129523.24gold quality
left uterine tubeUBERON:000130323.14silver quality
calcaneal tendonUBERON:000370123.08gold quality
body of stomachUBERON:000116122.85silver quality
heart left ventricleUBERON:000208422.77silver quality
rectumUBERON:000105222.68gold quality
body of pancreasUBERON:000115022.60silver quality
heartUBERON:000094822.57silver quality
hypothalamusUBERON:000189822.52gold quality
right lobe of liverUBERON:000111422.36gold quality
multicellular organismUBERON:000046822.28gold quality
lower esophagus mucosaUBERON:003583422.15gold quality
tibial arteryUBERON:000761022.08gold quality
popliteal arteryUBERON:000225022.07gold quality
small intestineUBERON:000210822.05silver quality
right adrenal gland cortexUBERON:003582722.04gold quality
myometriumUBERON:000129621.65gold quality
adenohypophysisUBERON:000219621.65gold quality
adrenal tissueUBERON:001830321.63gold quality
right atrium auricular regionUBERON:000663121.61silver quality
fundus of stomachUBERON:000116021.52gold quality
adult mammalian kidneyUBERON:000008221.10gold quality
lower esophagusUBERON:001347320.99gold quality
brainUBERON:000095520.97gold quality
lower esophagus muscularis layerUBERON:003583320.92gold quality
ascending aortaUBERON:000149620.88silver quality
temporal lobeUBERON:000187120.84silver quality
thoracic aortaUBERON:000151520.70silver quality
amygdalaUBERON:000187620.65silver quality
granulocyteCL:000009420.63gold quality
left adrenal gland cortexUBERON:003582520.43silver quality
testisUBERON:000047320.38gold quality
body of uterusUBERON:000985320.35silver quality
substantia nigraUBERON:000203820.34gold quality
small intestine Peyer’s patchUBERON:000345420.29silver quality
apex of heartUBERON:000209820.28gold quality
anterior cingulate cortexUBERON:000983520.26silver quality
ectocervixUBERON:001224920.18gold quality
right adrenal glandUBERON:000123320.16gold quality
pituitary glandUBERON:000000720.00gold quality
mucosa of transverse colonUBERON:000499119.91gold quality
right lobe of thyroid glandUBERON:000111919.64gold quality
omental fat padUBERON:001041419.62silver quality
skin of abdomenUBERON:000141619.61gold quality
Brodmann (1909) area 9UBERON:001354019.53gold quality
zone of skinUBERON:000001419.50gold quality
thyroid glandUBERON:000204619.41gold quality
corpus callosumUBERON:000233619.39gold quality
right coronary arteryUBERON:000162519.38gold quality
skin of legUBERON:000151119.13gold quality
left coronary arteryUBERON:000162619.00gold quality
cerebellumUBERON:000203718.97gold quality
putamenUBERON:000187418.92gold quality
right testisUBERON:000453418.87gold quality
nucleus accumbensUBERON:000188218.85gold quality
cerebellar cortexUBERON:000212918.85gold quality
spleenUBERON:000210618.64gold quality
cerebellar hemisphereUBERON:000224518.60gold quality
prostate glandUBERON:000236718.53gold quality
right ovaryUBERON:000211818.39gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 4 experiment(s), a significant marker in 3.

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-MTAB-10855yes109800.98
E-MTAB-10885yes94569.26
E-MTAB-9841yes75448.36
E-ANND-3no2.29

HPA expression

RNA tissue specificity: Tissue enriched

6 HPA tissues / cells by nTPM:

Tissue / cellAxisnTPMProtein (IHC)
Breasttissue538.2low
Thymustissue5.2
Salivary glandtissue2.5not detected
Seminal vesicletissue0.4not detected
Smooth muscletissue0.1not detected
Lactating breasttissue-1.0high

Brain sub-regions (HPA Brain Atlas): detected in 102; highest nTPM — Corpus callosum, splenium (white matter) (80.5), Corpus callosum, genu (white matter) (79.8), Cerebellar white matter (75.7), Lateral funiculus (white matter) (75.6), Anterior funiculus (white matter) (71.0).

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

Upstream regulators (CollecTRI, top): BCL6, CEBPA, CEBPB, CEBPG, DDIT3, ESR1, ESR2, FOS, HNF4A, ID4, MYC, NCOA1, NFKB1, NFKB, NR0B2, NR3C1, NR3C2, NRG1, PGR, POU2F1, POU2F2, PPARA, PPARG, RELA, RUNX2, SMAD2, SMAD3, SMAD4, STAT1, STAT3, STAT5A, STAT5B, STAT6, TP53, TP63, TSC22D3, YY1, ZNF335

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

Targeting CSN2 by miRDB confidence (max_score; target_count = how many genes the miRNA targets in total — lower means more specific).

showing 30 of 48 miRNAs:

miRNAMax scoreAvg scoremiRNA target_count
HSA-MIR-3163100.0077.238605
HSA-MIR-1277-5P100.0073.955056
HSA-MIR-5011-5P100.0083.465820
HSA-MIR-12118100.0065.881270
HSA-MIR-3646100.0073.565283
HSA-MIR-3613-3P100.0076.367965
HSA-MIR-6891-5P99.9866.531372
HSA-MIR-3173-3P99.9866.491217
HSA-MIR-520D-5P99.9873.344883
HSA-MIR-524-5P99.9873.434882
HSA-MIR-56899.9869.862084
HSA-MIR-60799.9773.625593
HSA-MIR-651-3P99.9473.485177
HSA-MIR-145-5P99.9271.131836
HSA-MIR-5195-3P99.9270.921877
HSA-MIR-367199.9073.043897
HSA-MIR-153-5P99.8973.866317
HSA-MIR-990299.8969.152250
HSA-MIR-7845-5P99.8864.88771
HSA-MIR-477999.8666.501583
HSA-MIR-430799.8270.453374
HSA-MIR-3180-5P99.8269.122422
HSA-MIR-449599.8272.083080
HSA-MIR-5580-3P99.7069.412052
HSA-MIR-1212499.6869.172700
HSA-MIR-58799.6470.862611
HSA-MIR-1249-5P99.6166.552049
HSA-MIR-6797-5P99.6166.552084
HSA-MIR-6758-3P99.5767.551078
HSA-MIR-190A-5P99.5471.45933

Functional genomics

gnomAD constraint: pLI 0.00146, LOEUF 1.17, missense Z -1.06 — population loss-of-function intolerance (pLI ≥ 0.9 = LoF-intolerant; lower LOEUF = more constrained). gnomAD

Regional missense constraint (gnomAD RMC): no regional variation along ENST00000353151 — one region, missense o/e 1.26.

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 9)

  • New functions of lactoferrin and beta-casein in mammalian milk as cysteine protease inhibitors. They might play a role in antiseptic and antiinfectious functions due to cysteine protease inhibition of bacteria and viruses. (PMID:12788072)
  • The RCM-kappa does form concentration-dependent micelles. Also, beta-CN phosphorylation level influences micelle formation. Complexes were low-temperature reversible and RCM-kappa fibrils were seen. (PMID:16947075)
  • a negative cross talk between PR and Stat5a/GR may contribute to the physiological role of progesterone to repress lactogenic hormone induction of the beta-casein gene (PMID:16973758)
  • derivatives of peptide fragment (54-59) exhibit immunosuppressant activity (PMID:19463972)
  • Milk congestion gives rise to higher levels of beta-casomorphin-8 in milk and plasma than in lactating women without problems. (PMID:24189037)
  • The acidic fragment of human Abeta (Abeta1-11) and a phosphorylated fragment of beta-Casein induced tau fibrillization in vitro. (PMID:24364857)
  • Exogenous 5-HT decreased beta-casein expression in MCF-12A human mammary epithelial cells and was responsible for inhibiting phosphorylation of STAT5, resulting in a decline in lactational function. (PMID:25087955)
  • Data suggest that neurogenesis in neuronal stem cells is differentially affected by human and bovine beta-casein-derived opioid peptides BCM7 and BCM9; such neurogenic changes are accompanied by changes in glutathione/glutathione disulfide ratio and in S-adenosylmethionine/S-adenosylhomocysteine ratio, indicative of changes in redox and methylation states (including DNA methylation). (PMID:27611101)
  • The PDC213 peptide derived from CSN2 displays antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and Y. enterocolitica. (PMID:28093229)

Cross-species orthologs

2 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
mus_musculusCsn2ENSMUSG00000063157
rattus_norvegicusCsn2ENSRNOG00000039326

Mouse-model phenotypes

Observed phenotypes of the mouse ortholog (MGI:88541) from MGI (Alliance of Genome Resources) — knockout/mutant phenotypes, ranked by annotation count. 2 distinct phenotype terms.

Mouse phenotype (MP)Records
maternal effect1
abnormal milk composition1

Additional cross-species homologs

Sequence homologs in species beyond Ensembl Compara’s model organisms, by Diamond local protein alignment (% sequence identity; best hit per species). Lower-identity rows are more distant homologs. The matched accessions’ gene symbols aren’t in biobtree yet, so each row shows the UniProt accession.

OrganismUniProtIdentityMethod
Ovis ariesP1183999.1%Diamond
Capra hircusP3304899.1%Diamond
Bos taurusP0266697.3%Diamond
Bubalus bubalisQ9TSI097.3%Diamond
Equus asinusP8627384.5%Diamond
Equus caballusQ9GKK384.5%Diamond
Camelus dromedariusQ9TVD071.9%Diamond
Sus scrofaP3903755.1%Diamond
Oryctolagus cuniculusP0911653.1%Diamond

Genomic neighbors (locus context)

Genes flanking this one on the chromosome (NCBI/Entrez gene neighborhood). Positional context only — some neighbors share regulatory elements (bidirectional promoters, antisense/overlapping transcripts), but chromosomal adjacency is not itself a functional relationship (see Interactions for that).

SymbolTypeEntrez
CSN1S1protein-coding1446
HTN3protein-coding3347
STATHprotein-coding6779
SULT1B1protein-coding27284
SULT1E1protein-coding6783
HTN1protein-coding3346

Protein

Protein identifiers

Beta-casein — P05814 (reviewed: P05814)

All UniProt accessions (2): P05814, W5RWE1

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Important role in determination of the surface properties of the casein micelles.

Subcellular location. Secreted.

Tissue specificity. Mammary gland specific. Secreted in milk.

Post-translational modifications. Form 1-P is phosphorylated once; half of the molecules are phosphorylated on Ser-24, half on Ser-25. (Microbial infection) Proteolytically cleaved by H.pylori HtrA.

Similarity. Belongs to the beta-casein family.

RefSeq proteins (3): NP_001289699, NP_001372660, NP_001882* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR001588CaseinFamily
IPR016345Casein_betaFamily
IPR031305Casein_CSConserved_site

Pfam: PF00363

UniProt features (19 total): sequence conflict 12, modified residue 5, signal peptide 1, chain 1

Structure

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-P05814-F160.090.04

Human Protein Atlas

Protein class: Predicted secreted proteins

Protein evidence: Evidence at protein level

Antibody reliability (HPA): IH supported

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 (5)

TypePositions
Phosphothreonine18
Phosphoserine21, 23, 24, 25

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

2 curated (TAS) of 5; 0 disease pathways. Curated-first; evidence = TAS (manually curated) vs IEA (electronic inference).

5 pathways:

IDPathwayEvidence
R-HSA-9927426Developmental Lineage of Mammary Gland Alveolar Cellscurated
R-HSA-1251985Nuclear signaling by ERBB4curated
R-HSA-162582Signal Transduction—
R-HSA-1236394Signaling by ERBB4—
R-HSA-9006934Signaling by Receptor Tyrosine Kinases—

MSigDB gene sets: 109 (showing top): PID_REG_GR_PATHWAY, GOBP_MONOATOMIC_CATION_TRANSPORT, chr4q13, CATTTCA_MIR203, WTGAAAT_UNKNOWN, GOBP_SECRETION, GOBP_MAMMARY_GLAND_DEVELOPMENT, MCBRYAN_PUBERTAL_BREAST_5_6WK_UP, GOBP_BODY_FLUID_SECRETION, GATA4_Q3, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_BODY_FLUID_LEVELS, DEURIG_T_CELL_PROLYMPHOCYTIC_LEUKEMIA_UP, GOBP_LACTATION, NAKAMURA_TUMOR_ZONE_PERIPHERAL_VS_CENTRAL_UP, GOMF_PEPTIDASE_REGULATOR_ACTIVITY

GO Biological Process (2): calcium ion transport (GO:0006816), lactation (GO:0007595)

GO Molecular Function (4): enzyme inhibitor activity (GO:0004857), cysteine-type endopeptidase inhibitor activity (GO:0004869), calcium ion binding (GO:0005509), protein binding (GO:0005515)

GO Cellular Component (1): extracellular region (GO:0005576)

Reactome top-level categories

4 top-level categories:

CategoryPathways
Signaling by ERBB41
Developmental Lineages of the Mammary Gland1
Signaling by Receptor Tyrosine Kinases1
Signal Transduction1

GO top-level categories

12 GO namespaces:

CategoryTerms
metal ion transport1
body fluid secretion1
mammary gland development1
milk ejection reflex1
catalytic activity1
enzyme regulator activity1
molecular function inhibitor activity1
cysteine-type endopeptidase activity1
endopeptidase inhibitor activity1
metal ion binding1
binding1
cellular anatomical structure1

Experimentally-supported GO annotations

GO terms backed by direct experimental evidence (ECO experimental codes) — 2 of 8 annotations. The rest are phylogenetic / computational / electronic (IEA).

2 experimentally-supported GO terms:

GO termNSEvidence
lactationBPdirect assay
cysteine-type endopeptidase inhibitor activityMFdirect assay

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

showing 15 of 752 interactions by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
CSN2CSN1S1P47710982
CSN2CSN3P07498972
CSN2LALBAP00709902
CSN2PRLP01236881
CSN2PRLRP16471784
CSN2LTFP02788718
CSN2BICD2Q8TD16694
CSN2NEK9Q8TD19674
CSN2BTN1A1Q13410671
CSN2NEK6Q9HC98660
CSN2STAT5AP42229654
CSN2HTRA1Q92743654
CSN2NEK7Q8TDX7652
CSN2INSP01308644
CSN2TPH1P17752623

IntAct

Human interaction partners of CSN2 in IntAct, one row per partner (best MIscore; records = supporting IntAct interaction records).

11 partners by confidence:

PartnerInteraction typeMIscoreRecords
FHL2physical association0.6704
UBQLN2physical association0.5606
CRYBB3association0.5302
PPP3CCassociation0.5301
ACE2protein cleavage0.4401
FAM20Cphosphorylation reaction0.4401
CDC42physical association0.0001
GRB2physical association0.0001
NFYCphysical association0.0001
RAC1physical association0.0001
TOLLIPphysical association0.0001

BioGRID (41 interactions; top human partners by supporting records): PLK1 (Biochemical Activity; 3 records), CORO2A (Affinity Capture-MS; 2 records), CSNK2A1 (Biochemical Activity; 2 records), FHL2 (Two-hybrid; 2 records), HTRA2 (Biochemical Activity; 2 records), PPP3CC (Affinity Capture-MS; 2 records), ARHGAP36 (Affinity Capture-MS), ARRB1 (Affinity Capture-MS), ARRB2 (Affinity Capture-MS), AURKA (Biochemical Activity), CDC42 (Two-hybrid), CDK1 (Biochemical Activity), CHPF (Affinity Capture-MS), COPS7A (Affinity Capture-MS), CRYBB3 (Affinity Capture-MS)

Disease & clinical

Genetic variants

Variant evidence for CSN2: 45 ClinVar records (0 pathogenic / likely pathogenic).

ClinVar

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

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic0
Uncertain significance37
Likely benign8
Benign0

SpliceAI

Top 10 splice-impact sites by Δscore (adjacent positions with the same effect merged into one range; 18 predictions of 510):

Position(s)EffectΔscoreSites
4:69958894donor_gain1.0000
4:69960947donor_gain0.9900
4:69965679–69965680donor_loss0.99004
4:69956497acceptor_gain0.9700
4:69957638donor_gain0.9700
4:69957651donor_gain0.9700
4:69958907–69958908donor_loss0.97006
4:69961016acceptor_gain0.9700
4:69956499acceptor_gain0.9600
4:69958906donor_loss0.9600

AlphaMissense

47 missense substitutions predicted likely pathogenic (of 1,463 scored), across 19 residues. Top 19 hotspot residues, ranked by the number of likely-pathogenic substitutions (of those reachable by a single-nucleotide change), then by mean score:

ResidueLikely-pathogenic substitutionsMean am_pathogenicityMax am_pathogenicity
K240.7180.770
C830.8710.981
A1530.8010.832
I530.7980.827
L630.7860.819
F6830.7730.773
L1230.7610.880
L930.7280.876
L430.7120.730
M11530.5870.587
F7630.5720.572
A1320.8370.840
A1120.8250.895
A720.8040.900
E1720.6640.716
N8020.5790.579
V1010.8390.839
L1410.8030.803
V310.6820.682

HPA cancer prognostics

RNA cancer specificity: Cancer enriched (Breast Invasive Carcinoma)

Human Protein Atlas survival analysis — favorable = higher expression predicts better survival.

3 prognostic cancer types:

CancerPrognosticp-value
Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma (TCGA)favorable8.53e-08
Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma (validation)favorable4.81e-05
Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (TCGA)unfavorable0.000435

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:115460 | disease phenotypes:

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

PharmGKB: 1 entry (CPIC guideline: no)

CTD chemical–gene interactions

4 total (human), top 4 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
linaloolincreases expression1
Rosiglitazoneincreases expression1
Benzo(a)pyreneaffects methylation1
Tobacco Smoke Pollutionincreases expression1

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

Via MONDO — disease-level, not drug-specific.

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