RAB37 Gene

HGNC Family	Ras small GTPases superfamily
Name	RAB37, member RAS oncogene family
Description	Rab proteins are low molecular mass GTPases that are critical regulators of vesicle trafficking. For additional background information on Rab proteins, see MIM 179508.[supplied by OMIM, Apr 2006]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nRAB37 is a multifunctional small GTPase that plays a critical role in intracellular vesicle trafficking and autophagy. In non‐tumoral settings, activated (GTP‐bound) RAB37 orchestrates autophagosome formation by directly recruiting the ATG5–ATG12 complex and promoting its assembly with ATG16L1, thereby facilitating LC3B lipidation and autophagosomal membrane biogenesis. In addition, RAB37 localizes to insulin‐containing secretory granules in pancreatic β‐cells where it promotes granule docking and is essential for glucose‐stimulated insulin exocytosis. RAB37 function is also modulated in cancer stem cells by metabolic cues—methionine, for example, can elevate its methylation and phosphorylation to suppress its activity and autophagy, an effect reversible by methionine‐γ lyase treatment."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "1", "end_ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nIn various tumor models, RAB37 emerges as an important metastasis suppressor through its regulation of exocytosis. In lung cancer, for instance, RAB37 governs the secretion of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP1) in a nucleotide‐dependent fashion and cooperates with v‐SNARE proteins (such as VAMP8) to suppress migration, invasion, and distant metastasis. Likewise, its mediation of exocytosis of other anti‐tumor cargos—thrombospondin‐1 (TSP1), soluble ST2 (which shifts macrophage polarization toward an M1‐like, anti‐tumoral phenotype), and secreted frizzled‐related protein 1 (SFRP1), an antagonist of Wnt signaling—serves to inhibit angiogenesis, cancer stemness, and metastatic spread."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "4", "end_ref": "8"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nContext‐dependent epigenetic and genetic regulations further modulate the function of RAB37 in cancer. In non‐small cell lung cancer, promoter and exon 1 hypermethylation lead to diminished RAB37 expression, an alteration strongly associated with enhanced metastasis. Parallel clinical observations in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma also support a link between genetic polymorphisms in RAB37 and tumor behavior. In renal cell carcinoma, however, RAB37—in complex with TMEM22—appears to support cancer cell growth, highlighting its context‐specific roles. More broadly, emerging studies on epigenetic alterations (as in nasopharyngeal carcinoma models) underscore the potential of RAB37 expression status as a prognostic biomarker."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "9", "end_ref": "12"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yue Sheng, Ying Song, Zhigang Li, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "RAB37 interacts directly with ATG5 and promotes autophagosome formation via regulating ATG5-12-16 complex assembly."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Death Differ (2018)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/s41418-017-0023-1"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41418-017-0023-1"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "29229996"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29229996"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Sanda Ljubicic, Paola Bezzi, Saska Brajkovic, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The GTPase Rab37 Participates in the Control of Insulin Exocytosis."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "PLoS One (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1371/journal.pone.0068255"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0068255"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "23826383"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23826383"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Lin Xin, Shi-Hao Li, Chuan Liu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Methionine represses the autophagy of gastric cancer stem cells via promoting the methylation and phosphorylation of RAB37."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Cycle (2020)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1080/15384101.2020.1814044"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1080/15384101.2020.1814044"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "32926650"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32926650"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Chung-Han Tsai, Hung-Chi Cheng, Yu-Shiuan Wang, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Small GTPase Rab37 targets tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 for exocytosis and thus suppresses tumour metastasis."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nat Commun (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/ncomms5804"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5804"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "25183545"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25183545"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Hong-Tai Tzeng, Chung-Han Tsai, Yi-Ting Yen, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Dysregulation of Rab37-Mediated Cross-talk between Cancer Cells and Endothelial Cells via Thrombospondin-1 Promotes Tumor Neovasculature and Metastasis."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Clin Cancer Res (2017)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-16-1520"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-16-1520"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "28151721"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28151721"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Hong-Tai Tzeng, Ching-Chin Su, Chih-Peng Chang, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Rab37 in lung cancer mediates exocytosis of soluble ST2 and thus skews macrophages toward tumor-suppressing phenotype."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Int J Cancer (2018)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1002/ijc.31569"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.31569"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "29717487"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29717487"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Shu-Huei Cho, I-Ying Kuo, Pei-Jung Frank Lu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Rab37 mediates exocytosis of secreted frizzled-related protein 1 to inhibit Wnt signaling and thus suppress lung cancer stemness."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Death Dis (2018)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/s41419-018-0915-0"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-018-0915-0"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "30158579"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30158579"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 8, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yu-Shiuan Wang, Hong-Tai Tzeng, Chung-Han Tsai, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "VAMP8, a vesicle-SNARE required for RAB37-mediated exocytosis, possesses a tumor metastasis suppressor function."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cancer Lett (2018)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.canlet.2018.08.023"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canlet.2018.08.023"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "30165196"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30165196"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 9, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Chu-Yi Wu, Ruo-Chia Tseng, Han-Shui Hsu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Frequent down-regulation of hRAB37 in metastatic tumor by genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in lung cancer."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Lung Cancer (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.lungcan.2008.06.014"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lungcan.2008.06.014"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "18687502"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18687502"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 10, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Xiaofeng Xu, Xingying Guan, Huansheng Tao, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "An association study on genetic polymorphisms of Rab37 gene with the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in a Chinese Han population."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Int J Med Sci (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.7150/ijms.5524"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.7150/ijms.5524"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "23372429"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23372429"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 11, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Sachiko Dobashi, Toyomasa Katagiri, Eiji Hirota, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Involvement of TMEM22 overexpression in the growth of renal cell carcinoma cells."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Oncol Rep (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19148500"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19148500"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 12, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yingqin Li, Xiaojing Yang, Xiaojing Du, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "i"}], "href": "i"}, {"type": "t", "text": "RAB37"}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "/i"}], "href": "/i"}, {"type": "t", "text": " Hypermethylation Regulates Metastasis and Resistance to Docetaxel-Based Induction Chemotherapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Clin Cancer Res (2018)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-0532"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-0532"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "30131385"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30131385"}]}]}]}
Proteins	RAB37_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	326624
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Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

RAB37 has 4,515 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, functional term, phrase or reference, chemical, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 107 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for RAB37 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with RAB37 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 RAB37 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing RAB37 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing RAB37 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with RAB37 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with RAB37 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with RAB37 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	dbGAP Gene-Trait Associations	traits associated with RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases associated with RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with RAB37 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 RAB37 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 RAB37 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of RAB37 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 RAB37 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with RAB37 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with RAB37 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations	biological terms co-occuring with RAB37 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 RAB37 from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.
	GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases	disease perturbations changing expression of RAB37 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases dataset.