ZAN Gene

Name zonadhesin (gene/pseudogene)
Description This gene encodes a protein that functions in the species specificity of sperm adhesion to the egg zona pellucida. The encoded protein is located in the acrosome and may be involved in signaling or gamete recognition. An allelic polymorphism in this gene results in both functional and frameshifted alleles; the reference genome represents the functional allele. Alternative splicing of this gene results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2015]
Summary
{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nZonadhesin (ZAN) is a male reproductive protein that plays a critical role in species‐specific sperm–egg recognition. Localized on the sperm head, ZAN comprises several domains—including VWD, membrane/A5 antigen mu receptor, and mucin‐like domains—that have been shown to bind directly to the female zona pellucida (ZP). Detailed sequence analyses across multiple primate species have revealed that these domains are subject to positive and balancing selection, indicating rapid adaptive evolution. Such evolutionary pressures underscore ZAN’s essential function in mediating cell–cell interactions during fertilization and ensuring species specificity in sperm binding."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \nIn a separate study employing phage‐display screening of a human brain cDNA expression library, zonadhesin was identified as one of the membrane‐associated proteins interacting with sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). This finding suggests that, in addition to its established role in reproduction, ZAN may participate in intracellular signaling or the facilitation of steroid delivery in neuronal tissues, potentially broadening its functional repertoire beyond the male reproductive system."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Joe Gasper, Willie J Swanson "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Molecular population genetics of the gene encoding the human fertilization protein zonadhesin reveals rapid adaptive evolution."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Am J Hum Genet (2006)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1086/508473"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1086/508473"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "17033959"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17033959"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "M Gnanasekar, F G Suleman, K Ramaswamy, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Identification of sex hormone binding globulin-interacting proteins in the brain using phage display screening."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Int J Mol Med (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.3892/ijmm_00000248"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm_00000248"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19724880"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19724880"}]}]}]}
Proteins ZAN_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID 7455
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions View ZAN's ARCHS4 Predicted Functions.
Co-expressed Genes View ZAN's ARCHS4 Predicted Functions.
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines View ZAN's ARCHS4 Predicted Functions.

Functional Associations

ZAN has 2,817 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 81 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations cell types associated with ZAN 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 ZAN gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
ChEA Transcription Factor Targets transcription factors binding the promoter of ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores cellular components containing ZAN protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 cellular components containing ZAN protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores cellular components co-occuring with ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles cell lines with ZAN gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
CTD Gene-Disease Associations diseases associated with ZAN gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
dbGAP Gene-Trait Associations traits associated with ZAN gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the dbGAP Gene-Trait Associations dataset.
DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 diseases associated with ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations phenotypes associated with ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets transcription factors binding the promoter of ZAN 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 ZAN from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
GAD Gene-Disease Associations diseases associated with ZAN gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations diseases associated with ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases disease perturbations changing expression of ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Transcription Factor Perturbations transcription factor perturbations changing expression of ZAN gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Transcription Factor Perturbations dataset.
GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections virus perturbations changing expression of ZAN gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections dataset.
GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 biological processes involving ZAN gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 dataset.
GO Biological Process Annotations 2025 biological processes involving ZAN gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations2025 dataset.
GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 cellular components containing ZAN protein from the curated GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 dataset.
GTEx eQTL 2025 SNPs regulating expression of ZAN gene from the GTEx eQTL 2025 dataset.
GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles tissues with high or low expression of ZAN 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 ZAN gene relative to other tissues from the GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles 2023 dataset.
GWAS Catalog SNP-Phenotype Associations phenotypes associated with ZAN gene in GWAS datasets from the GWAS Catalog SNP-Phenotype Associations dataset.
GWAS Catalog SNP-Phenotype Associations 2025 phenotypes associated with ZAN gene in GWAS datasets from the GWAS Catalog SNP-Phenotype Associations 2025 dataset.
GWASdb SNP-Disease Associations diseases associated with ZAN gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GWASdb SNP-Disease Associations dataset.
GWASdb SNP-Phenotype Associations phenotypes associated with ZAN gene in GWAS datasets from the GWASdb SNP-Phenotype Associations dataset.
Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles cell lines with high or low expression of ZAN gene relative to other cell lines from the Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
HuGE Navigator Gene-Phenotype Associations phenotypes associated with ZAN gene by text-mining GWAS publications from the HuGE Navigator Gene-Phenotype Associations dataset.
InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations protein domains predicted for ZAN protein from the InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations dataset.
JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets 2025 transcription factors regulating expression of ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN 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 ZAN gene relative to other cell lines from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles cell lines with high or low expression of ZAN gene relative to other cell lines from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles cell lines with ZAN gene mutations from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
LOCATE Curated Protein Localization Annotations cellular components containing ZAN 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 ZAN protein from the LOCATE Predicted Protein Localization Annotations dataset.
MGI Mouse Phenotype Associations 2023 phenotypes of transgenic mice caused by ZAN gene mutations from the MGI Mouse Phenotype Associations 2023 dataset.
MotifMap Predicted Transcription Factor Targets transcription factors regulating expression of ZAN gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the MotifMap Predicted Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
MPO Gene-Phenotype Associations phenotypes of transgenic mice caused by ZAN gene mutations from the MPO Gene-Phenotype Associations dataset.
Pathway Commons Protein-Protein Interactions interacting proteins for ZAN from the Pathway Commons Protein-Protein Interactions dataset.
PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations gene perturbations changing expression of ZAN 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 ZAN gene from the PerturbAtlas Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset.
PFOCR Pathway Figure Associations 2023 pathways involving ZAN protein from the PFOCR Pathway Figure Associations 2023 dataset.
PFOCR Pathway Figure Associations 2024 pathways involving ZAN protein from the Wikipathways PFOCR 2024 dataset.
Roadmap Epigenomics Cell and Tissue DNA Methylation Profiles cell types and tissues with high or low DNA methylation of ZAN 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 ZAN gene from the Roadmap Epigenomics Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 transcription factors regulating expression of ZAN gene from the Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 dataset.
RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures drug perturbations changing expression of ZAN gene from the RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures dataset.
RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures gene perturbations changing expression of ZAN gene from the RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures dataset.
TargetScan Predicted Nonconserved microRNA Targets microRNAs regulating expression of ZAN 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 ZAN gene relative to other tissue samples from the TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors dataset.
TISSUES Curated Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores tissues with high expression of ZAN protein from the TISSUES Curated Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores dataset.
TISSUES Curated Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 tissues with high expression of ZAN protein from the TISSUES Curated Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores tissues co-occuring with ZAN 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 ZAN protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.