IER2 Gene

Name	immediate early response 2
Description	Predicted to enable DNA binding activity. Involved in cell motility and positive regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II. Located in cytoplasm and nucleoplasm. Implicated in colorectal cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. Biomarker of childhood acute myeloid leukemia; colorectal adenocarcinoma; hepatocellular carcinoma; and melanoma. [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Mar 2025]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Immediate early response gene 2 (IER2) is a rapidly induced gene that functions as a key regulator of cell motility and invasiveness in diverse cellular contexts. Its expression is implicated in enhancing tumor progression through multiple mechanisms. In fibroblasts and various tumor models, IER2 has been shown to promote cell motility; for instance, its knockdown in fibroblasts impaired wound‐induced migration, whereas ectopic expression in pancreatic tumor cells increased both motility and invasiveness, an effect accompanied by its translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In melanoma models, sustained IER2 expression triggered a partial induction of senescence via p53/MAPK/AKT pathways, leading to the secretion of osteopontin—a key factor that in turn stimulated the migration and invasion of neighboring non‐senescent cells."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In hepatocellular carcinoma, overexpression of IER2 was correlated with increased cell adhesion to fibronectin and enhanced migration and invasion; mechanistically, this involves transcriptional upregulation of integrin β1 and subsequent activation of the focal adhesion kinase (FAK)–Src–paxillin signaling cascade."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Moreover, studies in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) support a similar role for IER2 in regulating cytoskeletal rearrangements, adhesion, and capillary-like tube formation."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Finally, IER2 appears as part of a conserved gene network—along with other immediate early genes such as Fos, Hdac4, Bdnf, and Nr4a1—that is associated with aggressive phenotypes across species, likely through its integration in MAPK and AP-1 signaling cascades."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A Neeb, S Wallbaum, N Novac, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The immediate early gene Ier2 promotes tumor cell motility and metastasis, and predicts poor survival of colorectal cancer patients."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Oncogene (2012)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/onc.2011.535"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2011.535"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "22120713"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22120713"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Lenka Kyjacova, Rafael Saup, Kerstin Rönsch, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "IER2-induced senescence drives melanoma invasion through osteopontin."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Oncogene (2021)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/s41388-021-02027-6"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-021-02027-6"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "34611309"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34611309"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Zhengxin Xu, Lei Zhu, Wenjuan Wu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Immediate early response protein 2 regulates hepatocellular carcinoma cell adhesion and motility via integrin β1-mediated signaling pathway."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Oncol Rep (2017)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.3892/or.2016.5215"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2016.5215"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "27840969"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27840969"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Wenjuan Wu, Xizhi Zhang, Houning Lv, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Identification of immediate early response protein 2 as a regulator of angiogenesis through the modulation of endothelial cell motility and adhesion."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Int J Mol Med (2015)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.3892/ijmm.2015.2310"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2015.2310"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "26260137"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26260137"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Karim Malki, Ebba Du Rietz, Wim E Crusio, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Transcriptome analysis of genes and gene networks involved in aggressive behavior in mouse and zebrafish."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet (2016)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1002/ajmg.b.32451"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.b.32451"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "27090961"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27090961"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	ETR101
Proteins	IER2_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	9592
API
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Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

IER2 has 9,499 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 103 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for IER2 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

IER2 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 IER2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human 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 IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 gene from the Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of IER2 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 IER2 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with IER2 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 IER2 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset.
	CM4AI U2OS Cell Map Protein Localization Assemblies	assemblies containing IER2 protein from integrated AP-MS and IF data from the CM4AI U2OS Cell Map Protein Localization Assemblies dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of IER2 gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing IER2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing IER2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with IER2 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with IER2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with IER2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action	small molecule perturbations with high or low expression of IER2 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 IER2 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of IER2 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 IER2 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 IER2 gene relative to other cell lines from the GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations	biological terms co-occuring with IER2 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 IER2 from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.