EHF Gene

HGNC Family	Helix-turn-helix ETS type domain containing
Name	ets homologous factor
Description	This gene encodes a protein that belongs to an ETS transcription factor subfamily characterized by epithelial-specific expression (ESEs). The encoded protein acts as a transcriptional repressor and may be involved in epithelial differentiation and carcinogenesis. Three transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jun 2011]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n EHF (also known as ESE‐3) is an ETS family transcription factor with highly context‐dependent roles in epithelial cell biology and tumorigenesis. In several studies focused on prostate and pancreatic tissues, EHF/ESE‐3 has been shown to function as a tumor suppressor by promoting epithelial differentiation and restraining cancer stem cell traits. Loss or reduced expression of EHF in these tissues is associated with enhanced epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition, deregulated expression of pro‐stemness and pro‐invasive genes (including TWIST1, ZEB2, BMI1, POU5F1, and decreased E‐cadherin levels), and ultimately, with increased tumor initiation and metastasis."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "1", "end_ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In contrast, studies in gastric cancer and oral squamous cell carcinoma indicate that EHF can adopt oncogenic properties. In these contexts, elevated EHF levels contribute to aggressive tumor behavior by upregulating factors such as keratin 16 and modulating receptor tyrosine kinase signaling (notably via the HER family), thereby promoting cell migration, invasion, and chemoresistance."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Moreover, in the airway epithelium, EHF is constitutively expressed and further inducible by inflammatory cytokines in adjacent cell types, where it appears to modulate gene expression linked to extracellular matrix remodeling and inflammatory mediator suppression, thus contributing to airway homeostasis."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "8"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Together, these findings underscore that balanced regulation of EHF/ESE‐3 is critical for maintaining epithelial integrity and function, with its dysregulation predisposing to a spectrum of aberrant differentiation programs and malignant progression depending on the tissue context.\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Domenico Albino, Nicole Longoni, Laura Curti, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "ESE3/EHF controls epithelial cell differentiation and its loss leads to prostate tumors with mesenchymal and stem-like features."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cancer Res (2012)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-0212"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-0212"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "22505649"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22505649"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "R Cangemi, A Mensah, V Albertini, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Reduced expression and tumor suppressor function of the ETS transcription factor ESE-3 in prostate cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Oncogene (2008)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/sj.onc.1210953"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1210953"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "18037958"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18037958"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Domenico Albino, Gianluca Civenni, Cecilia Dallavalle, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Activation of the Lin28/let-7 Axis by Loss of ESE3/EHF Promotes a Tumorigenic and Stem-like Phenotype in Prostate Cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cancer Res (2016)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-2665"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-2665"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "27197175"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27197175"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Paolo Kunderfranco, Maurizia Mello-Grand, Romina Cangemi, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "ETS transcription factors control transcription of EZH2 and epigenetic silencing of the tumor suppressor gene Nkx3.1 in prostate cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "PLoS One (2010)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1371/journal.pone.0010547"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010547"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "20479932"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20479932"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Tiansuo Zhao, Wenna Jiang, Xiuchao Wang, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "ESE3 Inhibits Pancreatic Cancer Metastasis by Upregulating E-Cadherin."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cancer Res (2017)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-2170"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-2170"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "27923832"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27923832"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Wei-Chieh Huang, Te-Hsuan Jang, Shiao-Lin Tung, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A novel miR-365-3p/EHF/keratin 16 axis promotes oral squamous cell carcinoma metastasis, cancer stemness and drug resistance via enhancing β5-integrin/c-met signaling pathway."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Exp Clin Cancer Res (2019)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1186/s13046-019-1091-5"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s13046-019-1091-5"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "30782177"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30782177"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Jing Shi, Yiping Qu, Xinru Li, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Increased expression of EHF via gene amplification contributes to the activation of HER family signaling and associates with poor survival in gastric cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Death Dis (2016)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/cddis.2016.346"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/cddis.2016.346"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "27787520"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27787520"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 8, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Eric S Silverman, Rebecca M Baron, Lyle J Palmer, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Constitutive and cytokine-induced expression of the ETS transcription factor ESE-3 in the lung."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol (2002)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1165/rcmb.2002-0011OC"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1165/rcmb.2002-0011OC"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "12444029"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12444029"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 9, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Sara L Fossum, Michael J Mutolo, Antonio Tugores, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Ets homologous factor (EHF) has critical roles in epithelial dysfunction in airway disease."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Biol Chem (2017)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1074/jbc.M117.775304"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M117.775304"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "28461336"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28461336"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	ESE3, ESE3B, ESEJ
Proteins	EHF_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	26298
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

EHF has 7,492 functional associations with biological entities spanning 8 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) extracted from 114 datasets.

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

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

EHF 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 EHF 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 EHF gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles	tissue samples with high or low expression of EHF gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of EHF gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of EHF 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 EHF 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 EHF 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 EHF gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures	small molecule perturbations changing expression of EHF gene from the Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of EHF 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 EHF gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with EHF protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with EHF 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 EHF gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of EHF 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 EHF gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas	gene perturbations changing expression of EHF gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of EHF gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing EHF protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing EHF protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing EHF 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 EHF 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 EHF 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 EHF gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with EHF gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with EHF gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with EHF gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	dbGAP Gene-Trait Associations	traits associated with EHF gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the dbGAP Gene-Trait Associations dataset.
	DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action	small molecule perturbations with high or low expression of EHF 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 EHF gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DGIdb Drug Targets 2026	interacting drugs for EHF protein from the DGIdb Drug Targets 2026 dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases associated with EHF gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with EHF 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 EHF 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 EHF 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 EHF gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with EHF 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 EHF 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 EHF gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of EHF gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.