AMACR Gene

Name	alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase
Description	This gene encodes a racemase. The encoded enzyme interconverts pristanoyl-CoA and C27-bile acylCoAs between their (R)- and (S)-stereoisomers. The conversion to the (S)-stereoisomers is necessary for degradation of these substrates by peroxisomal beta-oxidation. Encoded proteins from this locus localize to both mitochondria and peroxisomes. Mutations in this gene may be associated with adult-onset sensorimotor neuropathy, pigmentary retinopathy, and adrenomyeloneuropathy due to defects in bile acid synthesis. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described. Read-through transcription also exists between this gene and the upstream neighboring C1QTNF3 (C1q and tumor necrosis factor related protein 3) gene. [provided by RefSeq, Mar 2011]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Alpha‐methylacyl–CoA racemase (AMACR) is a peroxisomal enzyme that catalyzes the chiral inversion of 2‐methyl–acyl–CoA esters, a critical step in the beta–oxidation of branched–chain fatty acids and bile acid intermediates."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In prostate cancer, AMACR is markedly overexpressed at both the transcript and protein levels relative to benign prostatic tissue, making it one of the most sensitive and specific diagnostic biomarkers for identifying malignant cells, even in challenging needle biopsy specimens."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Studies have demonstrated that although prostate–specific antigen (PSA) and similar markers are useful for diagnosis, AMACR not only distinguishes adenocarcinoma from benign glands but also correlates with tumor grade and differentiation."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Beyond its role in diagnosis, functional studies have shown that AMACR is involved in prostate cancer cell growth. Enhanced enzymatic activity in tumor specimens implies that AMACR contributes to the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells by selectively up–regulating peroxisomal beta–oxidation of branched–chain fatty acids, while mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation remains unaltered."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Moreover, knockdown experiments using siRNA have demonstrated that reducing AMACR levels impairs proliferation and induces a G2–M cell cycle arrest in androgen–responsive prostate cancer cell lines, highlighting its functional contribution to tumor progression."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Although initial hypotheses suggested that AMACR expression might be modulated by androgens, subsequent investigations have clarified that its expression is independent of androgen receptor–mediated signaling and may instead serve as a marker of tumor differentiation—highly expressed in localized disease and lower in hormone–refractory metastases."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In addition, differential AMACR expression observed in malignant neuroendocrine cells further underscores its versatility as a biomarker across distinct prostate cancer subtypes."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "7"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Collectively, these findings underscore that AMACR plays a dual role in prostate cancer: it is both a robust diagnostic marker and a functional contributor to the oncogenic process through alterations in lipid metabolism. This multifaceted protein thus represents not only a valuable tool for clinical diagnosis but also a potential therapeutic target in the management of prostate cancer."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "6"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "7"}, {"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Matthew D Lloyd, Maksims Yevglevskis, Guat Ling Lee, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "α-Methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR): metabolic enzyme, drug metabolizer and cancer marker P504S."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Prog Lipid Res (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.plipres.2013.01.001"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plipres.2013.01.001"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "23376124"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23376124"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Mark A Rubin, Ming Zhou, Saravana M Dhanasekaran, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "alpha-Methylacyl coenzyme A racemase as a tissue biomarker for prostate cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "JAMA (2002)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1001/jama.287.13.1662"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.287.13.1662"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "11926890"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11926890"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Z Jiang, C L Wu, B A Woda, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase: a multi-institutional study of a new prostate cancer marker."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Histopathology (2004)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1111/j.1365-2559.2004.01930.x"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2559.2004.01930.x"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15330799"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15330799"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Shan Zha, Sacha Ferdinandusse, Jessica L Hicks, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Peroxisomal branched chain fatty acid beta-oxidation pathway is upregulated in prostate cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Prostate (2005)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1002/pros.20177"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.20177"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15599942"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15599942"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Shan Zha, Sacha Ferdinandusse, Simone Denis, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase as an androgen-independent growth modifier in prostate cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cancer Res (2003)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "14612535"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14612535"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Rainer Kuefer, Sooryanarayana Varambally, Ming Zhou, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "alpha-Methylacyl-CoA racemase: expression levels of this novel cancer biomarker depend on tumor differentiation."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Am J Pathol (2002)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/s0002-9440(10)64244-7"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/s0002-9440(10"}, {"type": "t", "text": "64244-7) PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "12213712"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12213712"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Jiaoti Huang, Jorge L Yao, P Anthony di Sant'Agnese, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Immunohistochemical characterization of neuroendocrine cells in prostate cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Prostate (2006)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1002/pros.20434"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.20434"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16865726"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16865726"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	CBAS4, RM, RACE, AMACRD, P504S
Proteins	AMACR_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	23600
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

AMACR has 7,513 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, chemical, functional term, phrase or reference, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 118 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for AMACR from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

AMACR Gene

Functional Associations

Please acknowledge the Harmonizome in your publications by citing the following reference(s):

	Dataset	Summary
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of AMACR gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of AMACR gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of AMACR gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq	tissue samples with high or low expression of AMACR gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of AMACR gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of AMACR gene relative to other cell lines from the BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of AMACR gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of AMACR gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of AMACR gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with AMACR protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with AMACR gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of AMACR gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of AMACR gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022	transcription factors binding the promoter of AMACR gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of AMACR gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing AMACR protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing AMACR protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing AMACR protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing AMACR protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with AMACR protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components co-occuring with AMACR protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of AMACR gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with AMACR gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with AMACR gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with AMACR gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action	small molecule perturbations with high or low expression of AMACR protein relative to other small molecule perturbations from the DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by AMACR gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases involving AMACR gene from the DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases involving AMACR gene from the DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with AMACR gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with AMACR gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases co-occuring with AMACR gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with AMACR gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with AMACR gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at AMACR gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of AMACR gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of AMACR gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing AMACR from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with AMACR gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with AMACR gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations dataset.