| HGNC Family | Calycin structural superfamily |
| Name | lipocalin 9 |
| Description | Members of the lipocalin family, such as LCN9, have a common structure consisting of an 8-stranded antiparallel beta-barrel that forms a cup-shaped ligand-binding pocket or calyx. Lipocalins generally bind small hydrophobic ligands and transport them to specific cells (Suzuki et al., 2004 [PubMed 15363845]).[supplied by OMIM, Aug 2009] |
| Summary |
{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n LCN9 is a member of the lipocalin family that exhibits highly regulated, tissue‐ and region–specific expression patterns in several species. In mice, LCN9 is predominantly expressed in the initial segment of the caput epididymis, where it appears to be involved in the maturation of sperm and the establishment of male fertility. Functional studies employing CRISPR/Cas9‐generated knockout models and an Lcn9–Cre knock–in mouse line have highlighted LCN9’s utility as a molecular marker for the epididymal initial segment and have provided tools for conditional gene editing in principal cells, thereby implicating LCN9 in the regulation of region–specific epididymal function."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "1", "end_ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n In addition, comparative transcriptomic studies in cattleyak have demonstrated that decreased LCN9 expression in the epididymides correlates with impaired sperm maturation and reduced motility, underscoring its potential importance in supporting male reproductive capacity under normal conditions."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Beyond reproduction, elevated expression of LCN9 in the epidermis of tick–resistant cattle suggests that LCN9 may also contribute to lipid processing and the maintenance of the epidermal barrier, potentially serving as part of the first line of defense against ectoparasitic challenges."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Collectively, these findings indicate that LCN9 plays multifaceted roles in both reproductive physiology—particularly in the epididymis where it facilitates sperm maturation and maintains male fertility—and in skin barrier function, highlighting its potential contributions to host defense mechanisms.\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Zongzhuang Wen, Dongyue Liu, Haixia Zhu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Deficiency for Lcn8 causes epididymal sperm maturation defects in mice."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Biochem Biophys Res Commun (2021)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.bbrc.2021.02.052"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2021.02.052"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "33631677"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33631677"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Qian-Qian Gong, Xiao Wang, Zhi-Lin Dou, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A novel mouse line with epididymal initial segment-specific expression of Cre recombinase driven by the endogenous Lcn9 promoter."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "PLoS One (2021)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1371/journal.pone.0254802"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254802"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "34310634"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34310634"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Kichiya Suzuki, Jean-Jacques Lareyre, Diego Sánchez, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Molecular evolution of epididymal lipocalin genes localized on mouse chromosome 2."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Gene (2004)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.gene.2004.06.027"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2004.06.027"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15363845"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15363845"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Wangsheng Zhao, Kifayatullah Mengal, Meng Yuan, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Comparative RNA-Seq Analysis of Differentially Expressed Genes in the Epididymides of Yak and Cattleyak."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Curr Genomics (2019)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.2174/1389202920666190809092819"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.2174/1389202920666190809092819"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "32030088"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32030088"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Kritaya Kongsuwan, Peter Josh, Michelle L Colgrave, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Activation of several key components of the epidermal differentiation pathway in cattle following infestation with the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Int J Parasitol (2010)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.ijpara.2009.10.013"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2009.10.013"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19909754"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19909754"}]}]}]}
|
| Synonyms | HEL129, 9230102I19RIK |
| Proteins | LCN9_HUMAN |
| NCBI Gene ID | 392399 |
| API | |
| Download Associations | |
| Predicted Functions |
 |
| Co-expressed Genes |
|
| Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines |
|
LCN9 has 1,215 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, functional term, phrase or reference, disease, phenotype or trait, chemical, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 59 datasets.
Click the + buttons to view associations for LCN9 from the datasets below.
If available, associations are ranked by standardized value
| Dataset | Summary | |
|---|---|---|
| Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | tissues with high or low expression of LCN9 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 LCN9 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 LCN9 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 LCN9 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 LCN9 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | cell types and tissues with high or low expression of LCN9 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 LCN9 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 LCN9 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset. | |
| ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles | transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of LCN9 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset. | |
| ChEA Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors binding the promoter of LCN9 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 LCN9 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset. | |
| COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores | cellular components containing LCN9 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset. | |
| COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores | cellular components co-occuring with LCN9 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 LCN9 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
| COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles | cell lines with LCN9 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset. | |
| DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency | cell lines with fitness changed by LCN9 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 LCN9 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 LCN9 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 LCN9 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 LCN9 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset. | |
| DrugBank Drug Targets | interacting drugs for LCN9 protein from the curated DrugBank Drug Targets dataset. | |
| ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles | histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at LCN9 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 LCN9 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset. | |
| ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors binding the promoter of LCN9 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 LCN9 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset. | |
| GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures | PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing LCN9 from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases | disease perturbations changing expression of LCN9 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 LCN9 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Kinase Perturbations | kinase perturbations changing expression of LCN9 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Kinase Perturbations dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules | small molecule perturbations changing expression of LCN9 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections | virus perturbations changing expression of LCN9 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections dataset. | |
| GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 | biological processes involving LCN9 gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 dataset. | |
| GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 | cellular components containing LCN9 protein from the curated GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 dataset. | |
| GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 | molecular functions performed by LCN9 gene from the curated GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 dataset. | |
| GTEx eQTL 2025 | SNPs regulating expression of LCN9 gene from the GTEx eQTL 2025 dataset. | |
| GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | tissues with high or low expression of LCN9 gene relative to other tissues from the GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles 2023 | tissues with high or low expression of LCN9 gene relative to other tissues from the GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles 2023 dataset. | |
| Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles | cell lines with high or low expression of LCN9 gene relative to other cell lines from the Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations | protein domains predicted for LCN9 protein from the InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations dataset. | |
| JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets 2025 | transcription factors regulating expression of LCN9 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| JASPAR Predicted Mouse Transcription Factor Targets 2025 | transcription factors regulating expression of LCN9 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Mouse Transcription Factor Targets 2025 dataset. | |
| JASPAR Predicted Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors regulating expression of LCN9 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles | cell lines with high or low copy number of LCN9 gene relative to other cell lines from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset. | |
| LOCATE Curated Protein Localization Annotations | cellular components containing LCN9 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the LOCATE Curated Protein Localization Annotations dataset. | |
| LOCATE Predicted Protein Localization Annotations | cellular components predicted to contain LCN9 protein from the LOCATE Predicted Protein Localization Annotations dataset. | |
| MiRTarBase microRNA Targets | microRNAs targeting LCN9 gene in low- or high-throughput microRNA targeting studies from the MiRTarBase microRNA Targets dataset. | |
| MotifMap Predicted Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors regulating expression of LCN9 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the MotifMap Predicted Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| NURSA Protein Complexes | protein complexs containing LCN9 protein recovered by IP-MS from the NURSA Protein Complexes dataset. | |
| PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations | gene perturbations changing expression of LCN9 gene from the PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset. | |
| PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Mouse Gene Perturbations | gene perturbations changing expression of LCN9 gene from the PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset. | |
| Reactome Pathways 2014 | pathways involving LCN9 protein from the Reactome Pathways dataset. | |
| Reactome Pathways 2024 | pathways involving LCN9 protein from the Reactome Pathways 2024 dataset. | |
| Roadmap Epigenomics Cell and Tissue DNA Methylation Profiles | cell types and tissues with high or low DNA methylation of LCN9 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the Roadmap Epigenomics Cell and Tissue DNA Methylation Profiles dataset. | |
| Roadmap Epigenomics Histone Modification Site Profiles | histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at LCN9 gene from the Roadmap Epigenomics Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset. | |
| RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures | drug perturbations changing expression of LCN9 gene from the RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures dataset. | |
| RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures | gene perturbations changing expression of LCN9 gene from the RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures dataset. | |
| TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors | tissue samples with high or low expression of LCN9 gene relative to other tissue samples from the TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors dataset. | |
| TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores | tissues co-occuring with LCN9 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores dataset. | |
| TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 | tissues co-occuring with LCN9 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
