USP42

gene
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Also known as FLJ12697

Summary

USP42 (ubiquitin specific peptidase 42, HGNC:20068) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 7p22.1, encoding Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 42 (Q9H9J4). Deubiquitinating enzyme which may play an important role during spermatogenesis.

Enables cysteine-type deubiquitinase activity. Predicted to be involved in protein deubiquitination; regulation of apoptotic process; and regulation of protein stability. Predicted to be located in nucleoplasm. Predicted to be active in cytosol and nucleus.

Source: NCBI Gene 84132 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • GWAS associations: 1
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 296 total
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_032172

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:20068
Approved symbolUSP42
Nameubiquitin specific peptidase 42
Location7p22.1
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
AliasesFLJ12697
Ensembl geneENSG00000106346
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM620946
Entrez84132

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 10 — 6 protein_coding, 3 nonsense_mediated_decay, 1 retained_intron

ENST00000306177, ENST00000404008, ENST00000426246, ENST00000451154, ENST00000465073, ENST00000479544, ENST00000521713, ENST00000921020, ENST00000921021, ENST00000921022

RefSeq mRNA: 3 — MANE Select: NM_032172 NM_001365764, NM_001389650, NM_032172

CCDS: CCDS47535

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000306177 — 18 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE0000187718961605556161564
ENSE0000190412261049496105032
ENSE0000346746361567546157055
ENSE0000347208861461486146248
ENSE0000347250961111256111374
ENSE0000350614961409146140984
ENSE0000356143861358416135951
ENSE0000356879361504126150506
ENSE0000357299361455166145656
ENSE0000362278561153236115523
ENSE0000362542861495836150302
ENSE0000363134461537566155195
ENSE0000364677961477396147892
ENSE0000364970861390926139194
ENSE0000365115961401286140195
ENSE0000365629461429326143014
ENSE0000367076761440856144196
ENSE0000368152161594506159493

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 256 present calls, max score 98.52.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth ubiquitous, TPM avg 7.3093 / max 74.3740, expressed in 1737 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (1 alternative TSS)

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
771377.30931737

Top tissues by expression

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

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
spermCL:000001998.52gold quality
epithelial cell of pancreasCL:000008392.96gold quality
ileal mucosaUBERON:000033191.34gold quality
pancreatic ductal cellCL:000207987.85gold quality
male germ line stem cell (sensu Vertebrata) in testisCL:0000089 ∩ UBERON:000047387.24gold quality
oviduct epitheliumUBERON:000480486.01gold quality
Brodmann (1909) area 23UBERON:001355484.94gold quality
tibialis anteriorUBERON:000138584.81silver quality
adult organismUBERON:000702384.78gold quality
nippleUBERON:000203084.62gold quality
cartilage tissueUBERON:000241884.18gold quality
postcentral gyrusUBERON:000258183.93gold quality
entorhinal cortexUBERON:000272883.75gold quality
primordial germ cell in gonadCL:0000670 ∩ UBERON:000099183.61gold quality
testisUBERON:000047383.55gold quality
visceral pleuraUBERON:000240183.31gold quality
nasal cavity epitheliumUBERON:000538483.29gold quality
parietal lobeUBERON:000187283.10gold quality
pylorusUBERON:000116682.98gold quality
right testisUBERON:000453482.89gold quality
thymusUBERON:000237082.78gold quality
left testisUBERON:000453382.69gold quality
cortical plateUBERON:000534382.35gold quality
tibiaUBERON:000097982.31gold quality
cerebellar vermisUBERON:000472082.25gold quality
pigmented layer of retinaUBERON:000178282.11gold quality
retinaUBERON:000096682.10gold quality
bronchial epithelial cellCL:000232882.05gold quality
germinal epithelium of ovaryUBERON:000130482.03gold quality
epithelium of nasopharynxUBERON:000195181.94gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

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

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-ANND-3no4.46

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

145 targeting USP42, 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-4262100.0073.263931
HSA-MIR-3163100.0077.238605
HSA-MIR-3925-3P100.0069.951237
HSA-MIR-4668-3P100.0068.742635
HSA-LET-7A-3P100.0074.033932
HSA-LET-7B-3P100.0074.083913
HSA-LET-7F-1-3P100.0074.023928
HSA-MIR-98-3P100.0074.083907
HSA-MIR-190A-3P100.0080.355520
HSA-MIR-29A-3P100.0073.111835
HSA-MIR-29B-3P100.0073.181833
HSA-MIR-29C-3P100.0073.151833
HSA-MIR-3613-3P100.0076.367965
HSA-MIR-181A-5P99.9972.962995
HSA-MIR-181B-5P99.9972.972996
HSA-MIR-181C-5P99.9972.952996
HSA-MIR-181D-5P99.9973.042997
HSA-MIR-223-3P99.9970.141140
HSA-MIR-27A-3P99.9872.132955
HSA-MIR-27B-3P99.9872.132955
HSA-MIR-998599.9872.112939
HSA-MIR-103A-3P99.9869.141595
HSA-MIR-10799.9869.141595
HSA-MIR-3692-3P99.9870.272139
HSA-MIR-4789-5P99.9870.762721
HSA-LET-7F-2-3P99.9870.982588
HSA-MIR-1185-1-3P99.9871.042593
HSA-MIR-1185-2-3P99.9871.042593
HSA-MIR-1213699.9872.815713
HSA-MIR-520D-5P99.9873.344883

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 8)

  • the function of USP42 is required to allow the rapid activation of p53-dependent transcription and a p53-dependent cell-cycle arrest in response to stress. (PMID:22085928)
  • we report, for the first time, the identification of a RUNX1-USP42 fusion transcript detected at diagnosis in a child with AML and del(5). (PMID:24673627)
  • a role for USP42 in regulating transcription by deubiquitylating histones (PMID:25336640)
  • USP42 overexpression could be a potential prognostic marker for GC, regulate the survival and invasive properties of GC, and may represent a novel therapeutic molecular target for this tumor. (PMID:27030989)
  • circUSP42 Is Downregulated in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and Associated With Poor Prognosis. (PMID:32938310)
  • Japanese Encephalitis Virus infection increases USP42 to stabilize TRIM21 and OAS1 for neuroinflammatory and anti-viral response in human microglia. (PMID:35779335)
  • [Ubiquitin-specific protease 42 regulates osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells]. (PMID:38318890)
  • Investigating USP42 Mutation as Underlying Cause of Familial Non-Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma. (PMID:38338801)

Cross-species orthologs

3 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
danio_reriousp42ENSDARG00000077300
mus_musculusUsp42ENSMUSG00000051306
rattus_norvegicusUsp42ENSRNOG00000001059

Paralogs (71): USP2 (ENSG00000036672), USP28 (ENSG00000048028), USP36 (ENSG00000055483), USP13 (ENSG00000058056), USP33 (ENSG00000077254), USP40 (ENSG00000085982), USP48 (ENSG00000090686), USP14 (ENSG00000101557), USP11 (ENSG00000102226), USP10 (ENSG00000103194), USP31 (ENSG00000103404), USP5 (ENSG00000111667), USP4 (ENSG00000114316), USP9Y (ENSG00000114374), USP34 (ENSG00000115464), USP35 (ENSG00000118369), USP45 (ENSG00000123552), USP22 (ENSG00000124422), USP9X (ENSG00000124486), USP6 (ENSG00000129204), USP29 (ENSG00000131864), USP26 (ENSG00000134588), USP30 (ENSG00000135093), USP15 (ENSG00000135655), USP37 (ENSG00000135913), USP44 (ENSG00000136014), USP20 (ENSG00000136878), USP8 (ENSG00000138592), USP3 (ENSG00000140455), USP21 (ENSG00000143258), USP43 (ENSG00000154914), USP25 (ENSG00000155313), USP16 (ENSG00000156256), USP24 (ENSG00000162402), USP1 (ENSG00000162607), USP49 (ENSG00000164663), USP38 (ENSG00000170185), USP50 (ENSG00000170236), USP47 (ENSG00000170242), USP32 (ENSG00000170832)

Protein

Protein identifiers

Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase 42Q9H9J4 (reviewed: Q9H9J4)

Alternative names: Deubiquitinating enzyme 42, Ubiquitin thioesterase 42, Ubiquitin-specific-processing protease 42

All UniProt accessions (6): Q9H9J4, B4DP25, C9JPC9, E5RJP3, E7EWZ4, F8WD92

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Deubiquitinating enzyme which may play an important role during spermatogenesis.

Tissue specificity. Broadly expressed.

Similarity. Belongs to the peptidase C19 family.

Isoforms (2)

UniProt IDNamesCanonical?
Q9H9J4-11yes
Q9H9J4-22

RefSeq proteins (3): NP_001352693, NP_001376579, NP_115548* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR001394Peptidase_C19_UCHDomain
IPR018200USP_CSConserved_site
IPR028889USPDomain
IPR038765Papain-like_cys_pep_sfHomologous_superfamily
IPR050164Peptidase_C19Family

Pfam: PF00443

UniProt features (41 total): compositionally biased region 14, modified residue 9, region of interest 8, sequence conflict 4, active site 2, chain 1, domain 1, splice variant 1, sequence variant 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

0 structures.

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-Q9H9J4-F149.270.22

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 (2): 120 (nucleophile); 371 (proton acceptor)

Post-translational modifications (9): 75, 483, 754, 856, 1181, 1219, 1222, 1226, 1247

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

1 pathways

IDPathway
R-HSA-5689880Ub-specific processing proteases

MSigDB gene sets: 195 (showing top): GSE18804_SPLEEN_MACROPHAGE_VS_TUMORAL_MACROPHAGE_UP, TGGTGCT_MIR29A_MIR29B_MIR29C, TGCTGCT_MIR15A_MIR16_MIR15B_MIR195_MIR424_MIR497, AAGCCAT_MIR135A_MIR135B, GOBP_MALE_GAMETE_GENERATION, GOBP_PROTEIN_MODIFICATION_BY_SMALL_PROTEIN_REMOVAL, chr7p22, FOSTER_TOLERANT_MACROPHAGE_UP, GOMF_CYSTEINE_TYPE_PEPTIDASE_ACTIVITY, GROSS_HYPOXIA_VIA_HIF1A_UP, LIAO_METASTASIS, GOBP_POST_TRANSLATIONAL_PROTEIN_MODIFICATION, GOBP_REGULATION_OF_PROTEIN_STABILITY, GOBP_DEVELOPMENTAL_PROCESS_INVOLVED_IN_REPRODUCTION, CUI_TCF21_TARGETS_2_DN

GO Biological Process (6): proteolysis (GO:0006508), spermatogenesis (GO:0007283), protein deubiquitination (GO:0016579), cell differentiation (GO:0030154), regulation of protein stability (GO:0031647), regulation of apoptotic process (GO:0042981)

GO Molecular Function (5): cysteine-type deubiquitinase activity (GO:0004843), protein binding (GO:0005515), peptidase activity (GO:0008233), cysteine-type peptidase activity (GO:0008234), hydrolase activity (GO:0016787)

GO Cellular Component (3): nucleus (GO:0005634), nucleoplasm (GO:0005654), cytosol (GO:0005829)

Reactome top-level categories

Rollup of top-1 pathways:

CategoryPathways
Deubiquitination1

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

CategoryTerms
cellular anatomical structure2
protein metabolic process1
developmental process involved in reproduction1
male gamete generation1
cysteine-type deubiquitinase activity1
protein modification by small protein removal1
cellular developmental process1
regulation of biological quality1
apoptotic process1
regulation of programmed cell death1
cysteine-type peptidase activity1
deubiquitinase activity1
binding1
hydrolase activity1
catalytic activity, acting on a protein1
peptidase activity1
catalytic activity1
intracellular membrane-bounded organelle1
nuclear lumen1
cytoplasm1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

656 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
USP42TP53P04637572
USP42ZUP1Q96AP4566
USP42USP28Q96RU2510
USP42USP13Q92995490
USP42DHX9Q08211481
USP42USP5P45974479
USP42OTUD5Q96G74447
USP42OTUB1Q96FW1439
USP42RSPO1Q2MKA7431
USP42TMTC2Q8N394419
USP42UCHL3P15374409
USP42PAN2Q504Q3406
USP42H2BC21Q16778404
USP42USP25Q9UHP3399
USP42USP54Q70EL1398

IntAct

44 interactions, top by confidence:

ABTypeScore
YWHAZLMNApsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.560
NRBM47psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
RPS3ZNF316psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
MAGEB2POLRMTpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
ABT1ZNF316psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
RPL13RRP8psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
SRSF3CASC3psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
DDX21MED19psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.480
Dlg4USP42psi-mi:“MI:0407”(direct interaction)0.440
USP42TP53psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.400
TP53USP42psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.400
USP42KPNA3psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
NRBM47psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
ANK2IGKV2-40psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
ZCCHC10C1orf226psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
RPL11ZNF724psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
SRSF4psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
AHCYL1TRAF5psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
PRKRAMPHOSPH10psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
JMJD6U2SURPpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
NFKBIL1TNRC18psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
RNPS1TAF4psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
DHX8ISY1-RAB43psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
H1-1POLRMTpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
H1-6RIOK3psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
HMGA1GTPBP10psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
LIN28AGTPBP10psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350

BioGRID (83): HIST2H2BE (Affinity Capture-Western), USP42 (Proximity Label-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), ZEB1 (Affinity Capture-Western), USP42 (Reconstituted Complex), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS), USP42 (Affinity Capture-MS)

ESM2 similar proteins: A5PK23, A7MB40, B1AQJ2, B2RQC2, B5DEH0, D3ZEN0, D3ZQL6, D3ZU96, E1B9W9, E1BE02, F6NSX9, G5E5X0, O00257, O55187, O94966, O95402, P00519, P0C2N5, P30658, P42335, P48382, P59598, Q14781, Q3TN34, Q3U108, Q3U8K7, Q3UJD6, Q3ULZ2, Q4G0F8, Q5DTT2, Q68CZ2, Q6J1Y9, Q6ZPY7, Q76I79, Q7LBC6, Q7TN02, Q7TT28, Q86V15, Q8BLG0, Q8IY33

Diamond homologs: A4FUN7, A5PMR2, A5PN09, A6H8I0, A6NNY8, A6QNM7, A6QR55, A7Z056, A8MUK1, B1AY15, B1WBD7, B2GUZ1, B2RQC2, C9JJH3, C9JLJ4, C9JPN9, C9JVI0, D3ZU96, D6R901, D6R9N7, D6RA61, D6RBM5, D6RBQ6, D6RCP7, D6RJB6, E1B9W9, F6Z5C0, M9PD06, O22207, O60079, O75604, O94966, P0C8Z3, P35123, P39538, P40818, P50102, P51784, Q09738, Q0WX57

SIGNOR signaling

0 interactions.

Enriched among interaction partners

Reactome pathways and GO biological processes over-represented among this gene’s 59 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)820.0×4e-07
mRNA Splicing719.7×2e-06
Peptide chain elongation619.5×2e-05
Viral mRNA Translation619.5×2e-05
PELO:HBS1L and ABCE1 dissociate a ribosome on a non-stop mRNA619.3×2e-05
Selenocysteine synthesis618.5×2e-05
Eukaryotic Translation Termination618.5×2e-05
Nonsense Mediated Decay (NMD) independent of the Exon Junction Complex (EJC)618.1×2e-05

GO biological processes:

GO termPartnersFoldFDR
cytoplasmic translation724.9×2e-06
regulation of alternative mRNA splicing, via spliceosome523.5×2e-04
RNA splicing1017.0×1e-07
mRNA processing69.1×3e-03

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

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

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic0
Uncertain significance250
Likely benign23
Benign0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

2975 predictions. Top by Δscore:

VariantEffectΔscore
7:6105028:GTCAG:Gdonor_gain1.0000
7:6105033:G:GGdonor_gain1.0000
7:6105033:GTA:Gdonor_loss1.0000
7:6105034:T:Adonor_loss1.0000
7:6115321:A:AGacceptor_gain1.0000
7:6115322:G:GGacceptor_gain1.0000
7:6115524:G:GGdonor_gain1.0000
7:6135947:GCGGC:Gdonor_gain1.0000
7:6135948:CGGC:Cdonor_gain1.0000
7:6135949:GGC:Gdonor_gain1.0000
7:6135949:GGCG:Gdonor_gain1.0000
7:6135950:GC:Gdonor_gain1.0000
7:6135950:GCG:Gdonor_gain1.0000
7:6135951:CG:Cdonor_loss1.0000
7:6135952:G:GCdonor_loss1.0000
7:6135952:G:GGdonor_gain1.0000
7:6135953:TA:Tdonor_loss1.0000
7:6135954:A:ACdonor_loss1.0000
7:6135955:AGTA:Adonor_loss1.0000
7:6139090:A:ATacceptor_loss1.0000
7:6139091:GGT:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
7:6139091:GGTAT:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
7:6139191:A:AGdonor_gain1.0000
7:6139192:TAA:Tdonor_gain1.0000
7:6139193:AA:Adonor_gain1.0000
7:6139193:AAG:Adonor_loss1.0000
7:6139194:AGT:Adonor_loss1.0000
7:6139195:G:GGdonor_gain1.0000
7:6139196:TAAG:Tdonor_loss1.0000
7:6140912:A:AGacceptor_gain1.0000

AlphaMissense

8682 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000050211 (7:6105024 C>G,T), RS1000050769 (7:6134194 A>G), RS1000054556 (7:6129350 G>A,C,T), RS1000066276 (7:6147797 T>C), RS1000076411 (7:6147543 C>T), RS1000076434 (7:6157994 G>A), RS1000131064 (7:6159900 G>A), RS1000150357 (7:6093453 C>G,T), RS1000195226 (7:6148104 G>A,C), RS1000198019 (7:6080370 C>A,T), RS1000209564 (7:6096658 G>A), RS1000236423 (7:6117135 A>G), RS1000240513 (7:6096441 T>C), RS1000246919 (7:6080413 T>G), RS1000248429 (7:6125020 A>G)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:620946 | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (0):

Orphanet (0):

HPO phenotypes

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

GWAS associations

1 associations (top):

StudyTraitp-value
GCST006998_2Cerebrospinal fluid p-tau levels in mild cognitive impairment9.000000e-08

EFO canonical traits (1, from GWAS)

EFO IDTrait name
EFO:0004760t-tau measurement

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

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

CTD chemical–gene interactions

28 total (human), top 28 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
Valproic Acidaffects cotreatment, decreases expression, affects expression, increases methylation6
trichostatin Adecreases expression, affects cotreatment2
Tobacco Smoke Pollutionincreases expression2
Cyclosporineincreases expression2
aristolochic acid Idecreases expression1
3-((6-(2-methoxyphenyl)pyrimidin-4-yl)amino)phenyl)methane sulfonamidedecreases expression1
FR900359affects phosphorylation1
triphenyl phosphateaffects expression1
arseniteaffects binding, decreases reaction1
coumarindecreases phosphorylation1
beta-methylcholineaffects expression1
4-(5-benzo(1,3)dioxol-5-yl-4-pyridin-2-yl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)benzamidedecreases expression, affects cotreatment1
torcetrapibincreases expression1
dorsomorphinaffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
bisphenol Saffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
Temozolomideincreases expression1
Acetaminophendecreases expression1
Benzo(a)pyreneincreases methylation, affects methylation1
Caffeinedecreases phosphorylation1
Cisplatindecreases expression1
Dexamethasoneaffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
Doxorubicindecreases expression1
Formaldehydedecreases expression1
Indomethacinaffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
Thiramincreases expression1
Urethaneincreases expression1
1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthineaffects cotreatment, decreases expression1
Copper Sulfateincreases expression1

Cellosaurus cell lines

2 cell lines: 2 cancer cell line

First 10 cell lines (id-ordered, not curated):

CellosaurusNameCategorySex
CVCL_B2KPAbcam HeLa USP42 KOCancer cell lineFemale
CVCL_XU96HAP1 USP42 (-)Cancer cell lineMale

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.