VCX Gene

HGNC Family Variable charge X/Y family (VCX, VCY)
Name variable charge, X-linked
Description This gene belongs to the VCX/Y gene family, which has multiple members on both X and Y chromosomes, and all are expressed exclusively in male germ cells. The X-linked members are clustered on chromosome Xp22 and Y-linked members are two identical copies of the gene within a palindromic region on Yq11. The family members share a high degree of sequence identity, with the exception that a 30-bp unit is tandemly repeated in X-linked members but occurs only once in Y-linked members. The VCX gene cluster is polymorphic in terms of copy number; different individuals may have a different number of VCX genes. VCX/Y genes encode small and highly charged proteins of unknown function. The presence of a putative bipartite nuclear localization signal suggests that VCX/Y members are nuclear proteins. This gene contains 10 repeats of the 30-bp unit. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Summary
{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nVCX is a member of an X‐linked gene family originally identified for its testis‐restricted expression that has since been found to function as a cancer/testis antigen in several tumor types. In lung cancers, for example, a specific member, VCX3A, is expressed in a subset of adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas while being absent in normal lung tissue, thereby broadening the repertoire of antigens available for immunotherapeutic targeting. Complementary studies have revealed that VCX, along with closely related VCX/Y family members, shares promoter characteristics and expression profiles with other testis‐specific gene families, suggesting an evolutionarily conserved role during spermatogenesis."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nBeyond its role as a cancer/testis antigen, alterations in VCX gene copy number have significant implications in male reproductive health. Systematic analyses have demonstrated that an increased copy number of VCX is associated with non‐obstructive azoospermia (NOA), likely through upregulation of gene expression that modulates cell proliferation and apoptosis, thereby contributing to the risk profile underlying this severe form of male infertility."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nMoreover, VCX expression is subject to complex regulation at the epigenetic level under conditions of chronic liver disease. In patients with chronic hepatitis B, genetic polymorphisms together with differential DNA methylation of a specific X‐chromosome locus regulate VCX mRNA and protein levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, with higher expression observed in female patients. This upregulation is hypothesized to play a protective role against severe liver dysfunction and extensive fibrosis noted in male patients."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}]}]}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Ayumu Taguchi, Allen D Taylor, Jaime Rodriguez, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A search for novel cancer/testis antigens in lung cancer identifies VCX/Y genes, expanding the repertoire of potential immunotherapeutic targets."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cancer Res (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-3725"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-3725"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "24970476"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24970476"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Martin A Hansen, John E Nielsen, Dorota Retelska, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A shared promoter region suggests a common ancestor for the human VCX/Y, SPANX, and CSAG gene families and the murine CYPT family."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Mol Reprod Dev (2008)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1002/mrd.20651"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/mrd.20651"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "17342728"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17342728"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Juan Ji, Yufeng Qin, Rong Wang, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Copy number gain of VCX, X-linked multi-copy gene, leads to cell proliferation and apoptosis during spermatogenesis."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Oncotarget (2016)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.18632/oncotarget.12397"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.12397"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "27705943"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27705943"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Xue-Qing Hu, Yuan Zhou, Jian Chen, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "DNA Methylation and SNPs in VCX are Correlated with Sex Differences in the Response to Chronic Hepatitis B."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Virol Sin (2019)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1007/s12250-019-00117-0"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s12250-019-00117-0"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "31161555"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31161555"}]}]}]}
Synonyms VCX1, VCXB1, VCX10R, VCX-10R, VCX-B1
Proteins VCX1_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID 26609
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions View VCX's ARCHS4 Predicted Functions.
Co-expressed Genes View VCX's ARCHS4 Predicted Functions.
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines View VCX's ARCHS4 Predicted Functions.

Functional Associations

VCX has 2,117 functional associations with biological entities spanning 8 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) extracted from 58 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles cell lines with high or low copy number of VCX gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations cell types associated with VCX gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset.
ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 transcription factors binding the promoter of VCX 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 VCX gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores cellular components containing VCX protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 cellular components containing VCX protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores cellular components co-occuring with VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles cell lines with VCX gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores diseases co-occuring with VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations phenotypes associated with VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets transcription factors binding the promoter of VCX gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations diseases associated with VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases disease perturbations changing expression of VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections dataset.
GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 biological processes involving VCX gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 dataset.
GO Biological Process Annotations 2023 biological processes involving VCX gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations 2023 dataset.
GO Biological Process Annotations 2025 biological processes involving VCX gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations2025 dataset.
GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 cellular components containing VCX protein from the curated GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 dataset.
GO Cellular Component Annotations 2023 cellular components containing VCX protein from the curated GO Cellular Component Annotations 2023 dataset.
GO Cellular Component Annotations 2025 cellular components containing VCX protein from the curated GO Cellular Component Annotations 2025 dataset.
GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 molecular functions performed by VCX gene from the curated GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 dataset.
GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles tissues with high or low expression of VCX 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 VCX 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 VCX gene relative to other cell lines from the Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
HPA Tissue Protein Expression Profiles tissues with high or low expression of VCX protein relative to other tissues from the HPA Tissue Protein Expression Profiles dataset.
InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations protein domains predicted for VCX protein from the InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations dataset.
JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets 2025 transcription factors regulating expression of VCX gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
JASPAR Predicted Transcription Factor Targets transcription factors regulating expression of VCX 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 VCX gene relative to other cell lines from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
KnockTF Gene Expression Profiles with Transcription Factor Perturbations transcription factor perturbations changing expression of VCX gene from the KnockTF Gene Expression Profiles with Transcription Factor Perturbations dataset.
LOCATE Predicted Protein Localization Annotations cellular components predicted to contain VCX protein from the LOCATE Predicted Protein Localization Annotations dataset.
NIBR DRUG-seq U2OS MoA Box Gene Expression Profiles drug perturbations changing expression of VCX gene from the NIBR DRUG-seq U2OS MoA Box dataset.
PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations gene perturbations changing expression of VCX gene from the PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset.
Roadmap Epigenomics Histone Modification Site Profiles histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at VCX gene from the Roadmap Epigenomics Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 transcription factors regulating expression of VCX gene from the Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 dataset.
RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures drug perturbations changing expression of VCX gene from the RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures dataset.
RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures gene perturbations changing expression of VCX gene from the RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures dataset.
TargetScan Predicted Nonconserved microRNA Targets microRNAs regulating expression of VCX gene predicted using nonconserved miRNA seed sequences from the TargetScan Predicted Nonconserved microRNA Targets dataset.
TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors tissue samples with high or low expression of VCX gene relative to other tissue samples from the TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors dataset.
TISSUES Experimental Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores tissues with high expression of VCX protein in proteomics datasets from the TISSUES Experimental Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores dataset.
TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores tissues co-occuring with VCX 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 VCX protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
WikiPathways Pathways 2024 pathways involving VCX protein from the WikiPathways Pathways 2024 dataset.