UGP2 Gene

Name	UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase 2
Description	The enzyme encoded by this gene is an important intermediary in mammalian carbohydrate interconversions. It transfers a glucose moiety from glucose-1-phosphate to MgUTP and forms UDP-glucose and MgPPi. In liver and muscle tissue, UDP-glucose is a direct precursor of glycogen; in lactating mammary gland it is converted to UDP-galactose which is then converted to lactose. The eukaryotic enzyme has no significant sequence similarity to the prokaryotic enzyme. Two transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nUGP2 encodes the enzyme uridine diphosphate‐glucose pyrophosphorylase 2, which catalyzes the formation of UDP‐glucose—a central metabolite required for glycogen biosynthesis, glycoconjugate formation, and galactose metabolism. Under low-oxygen conditions, UGP2 is transcriptionally upregulated along with other glycogen metabolic enzymes to facilitate glycogen accumulation as an adaptive response, while in the nervous system, an isoform‐specific loss of UGP2 due to a start codon mutation leads to defective glycogen metabolism, triggering endoplasmic reticulum stress and premature neuronal differentiation that underlie severe developmental and epileptic encephalopathies."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nIn the context of cancer, altered UGP2 expression has been implicated in multiple tumor types. Studies in pancreatic ductal carcinoma have demonstrated that UGP2 is directly regulated by the YAP–TEAD complex, thereby promoting tumor growth by modulating intracellular glycogen pools and protein N‑glycosylation. Similarly, aberrant UGP2 levels have been correlated with enhanced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in glioblastoma, and in hepatocellular carcinoma, reduced UGP2 expression has been associated with poor patient outcomes and metabolic reprogramming, underscoring its potential as both a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "3", "end_ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nAt the molecular and structural levels, human UGP2 has been shown to adopt an octameric conformation that is critical for its catalytic activity—a feature that distinguishes it from the monomeric or lower oligomeric forms found in other species. Detailed structural studies have pinpointed critical residues, particularly within the conserved C‑terminal “latch loop,” that are essential for both oligomer formation and enzymatic function. Complementary investigations using cellular models with impaired UGP2 activity further highlight its importance for proper glycoconjugate biosynthesis and galactose metabolism."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "7", "end_ref": "9"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nuria Pescador, Diego Villar, Daniel Cifuentes, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Hypoxia promotes glycogen accumulation through hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-mediated induction of glycogen synthase 1."}]}, {"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.0009644"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0009644"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "20300197"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20300197"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Elena Perenthaler, Anita Nikoncuk, Soheil Yousefi, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Loss of UGP2 in brain leads to a severe epileptic encephalopathy, emphasizing that bi-allelic isoform-specific start-loss mutations of essential genes can cause genetic diseases."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Acta Neuropathol (2020)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1007/s00401-019-02109-6"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-019-02109-6"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "31820119"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31820119"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Lingxiang Wang, Li Xiong, Zhengchun Wu, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Expression of UGP2 and CFL1 expression levels in benign and malignant pancreatic lesions and their clinicopathological significance."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "World J Surg Oncol (2018)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1186/s12957-018-1316-7"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s12957-018-1316-7"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "29347944"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29347944"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Andrew L Wolfe, Qingwen Zhou, Eneda Toska, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase 2, a regulator of glycogen synthesis and glycosylation, is critical for pancreatic cancer growth."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (2021)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1073/pnas.2103592118"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2103592118"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "34330832"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34330832"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Chun Zeng, Wenli Xing, Yanhui Liu "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Identification of UGP2 as a progression marker that promotes cell growth and motility in human glioma."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Cell Biochem (2019)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1002/jcb.28515"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/jcb.28515"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "30816613"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30816613"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Qiuyue Hu, Shen Shen, Jianhao Li, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Low UGP2 Expression Is Associated with Tumour Progression and Predicts Poor Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Dis Markers (2020)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1155/2020/3231273"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3231273"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "32733617"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32733617"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Quan Yu, Xiaofeng Zheng "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The crystal structure of human UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase reveals a latch effect that influences enzymatic activity."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Biochem J (2012)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1042/BJ20111598"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1042/BJ20111598"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "22132858"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22132858"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 8, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Jana Führing, Sebastian Damerow, Roman Fedorov, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Octamerization is essential for enzymatic function of human UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Glycobiology (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1093/glycob/cws217"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1093/glycob/cws217"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "23254995"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23254995"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 9, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Christelle Durrant, Jana I Fuehring, Alexandra Willemetz, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Defects in Galactose Metabolism and Glycoconjugate Biosynthesis in a UDP-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase-Deficient Cell Line Are Reversed by Adding Galactose to the Growth Medium."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Int J Mol Sci (2020)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.3390/ijms21062028"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21062028"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "32188137"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32188137"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	UDPG, UGPP2, UDPGP, UGPP1, PHC379, UDPGP2, UGP1
Proteins	UGPA_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	7360
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

UGP2 has 7,733 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 122 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for UGP2 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with UGP2 protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with UGP2 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 UGP2 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing UGP2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing UGP2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with UGP2 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with UGP2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with UGP2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by UGP2 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases involving UGP2 gene from the DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with UGP2 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 UGP2 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 UGP2 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of UGP2 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 UGP2 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with UGP2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of UGP2 gene relative to other cell lines from the GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations	biological terms co-occuring with UGP2 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 UGP2 from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.