AZIN1 Gene

Name	antizyme inhibitor 1
Description	The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the antizyme inhibitor family, which plays a role in cell growth and proliferation by maintaining polyamine homeostasis within the cell. Antizyme inhibitors are homologs of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, the key enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis) that have lost the ability to decarboxylase ornithine; however, retain the ability to bind to antizymes. Antizymes negatively regulate intracellular polyamine levels by binding to ODC and targeting it for degradation, as well as by inhibiting polyamine uptake. Antizyme inhibitors function as positive regulators of polyamine levels by sequestering antizymes and neutralizing their effect. This gene encodes antizyme inhibitor 1, the first member of this gene family that is ubiquitously expressed, and is localized in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Overexpression of antizyme inhibitor 1 gene has been associated with increased proliferation, cellular transformation and tumorigenesis. Gene knockout studies showed that homozygous mutant mice lacking functional antizyme inhibitor 1 gene died at birth with abnormal liver morphology. RNA editing of this gene, predominantly in the liver tissue, has been linked to the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2014]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Antizyme inhibitor 1 (AZIN1) is a pivotal regulator of polyamine metabolism that functions by neutralizing antizyme‐mediated inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC). Emerging studies reveal that RNA editing of the AZIN1 transcript by ADAR enzymes generates a protein variant with a gain‐of‐function phenotype, which shifts its subcellular localization (from the cytoplasm to the nucleus) and promotes oncogenic processes. In esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and non‐small‐cell lung cancer, for example, hyper‐edited AZIN1 correlates with aggressive tumor behavior and poor patient outcomes."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "1", "end_ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n Mechanistically, ribosome pausing and queuing can modulate translation initiation at non‐canonical start sites of the AZIN1 mRNA, thus finely tuning its expression."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Moreover, RNA‐edited AZIN1 has been shown to delay c‐Myc degradation via an OAZ2‐mediated ubiquitin‐independent proteasome pathway, leading to the upregulation of angiogenic factors such as interleukin-8, thereby contributing to tumor angiogenesis."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n In addition, genetic studies underscore that AZIN1 is essential for maintaining polyamine levels required for cell viability, highlighting its broader role in both normal physiology and cancer."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Collectively, these findings portray AZIN1 as a multifunctional contributor to cancer progression—mediating polyamine-driven cellular proliferation, influencing translation regulation, and promoting angiogenesis—while also emerging as a prognostic biomarker and attractive therapeutic target.\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yan-Ru Qin, Jun-Jing Qiao, Tim Hon Man Chan, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing mediated by ADARs in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cancer Res (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-2545"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-2545"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "24302582"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24302582"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Xueda Hu, Jingyi Chen, Xiaoshun Shi, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "RNA editing of AZIN1 induces the malignant progression of non-small-cell lung cancers."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Tumour Biol (2017)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1177/1010428317700001"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1177/1010428317700001"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "28849733"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28849733"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yoshinaga Okugawa, Yuji Toiyama, Kunitoshi Shigeyasu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Enhanced AZIN1 RNA editing and overexpression of its regulatory enzyme ADAR1 are important prognostic biomarkers in gastric cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Transl Med (2018)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1186/s12967-018-1740-z"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-018-1740-z"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "30563560"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30563560"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Ivaylo P Ivanov, Byung-Sik Shin, Gary Loughran, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Polyamine Control of Translation Elongation Regulates Start Site Selection on Antizyme Inhibitor mRNA via Ribosome Queuing."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Mol Cell (2018)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.molcel.2018.03.015"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2018.03.015"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "29677493"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29677493"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yan Wei, Haowan Zhang, Qiaohui Feng, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A novel mechanism for A-to-I RNA-edited AZIN1 in promoting tumor angiogenesis in colorectal cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Death Dis (2022)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/s41419-022-04734-8"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-022-04734-8"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "35365616"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35365616"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Hua Tang, Kimi Ariki, Makiko Ohkido, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Role of ornithine decarboxylase antizyme inhibitor in vivo."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Genes Cells (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1111/j.1365-2443.2008.01249.x"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2443.2008.01249.x"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19077035"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19077035"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	AZIA1, OAZIN, ODC1L, OAZI
Proteins	AZIN1_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	51582
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

AZIN1 has 7,059 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 109 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for AZIN1 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

AZIN1 Gene

Functional Associations

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

	Dataset	Summary
	Achilles Cell Line Gene Essentiality Profiles	cell lines with fitness changed by AZIN1 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the Achilles Cell Line Gene Essentiality Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of AZIN1 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with AZIN1 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 AZIN1 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing AZIN1 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with AZIN1 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with AZIN1 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with AZIN1 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action	small molecule perturbations with high or low expression of AZIN1 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 AZIN1 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases associated with AZIN1 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with AZIN1 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 AZIN1 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 AZIN1 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of AZIN1 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 AZIN1 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of AZIN1 gene relative to other cell lines from the GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations	biological terms co-occuring with AZIN1 gene in literature-supported statements describing functions of genes from the GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations dataset.
	GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing AZIN1 from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.
	GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases	disease perturbations changing expression of AZIN1 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases dataset.
	GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations	gene perturbations changing expression of AZIN1 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset.