LCN2

Chr 9

lipocalin 2

Also known as: 24p3, MSFI, NGAL, p25

NCBI Gene: 3934 ENSG00000148346 UniProt: P80188

This gene encodes a protein that belongs to the lipocalin family. Members of this family transport small hydrophobic molecules such as lipids, steroid hormones and retinoids. The protein encoded by this gene is a neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin and plays a role in innate immunity by limiting bacterial growth as a result of sequestering iron-containing siderophores. The presence of this protein in blood and urine is an early biomarker of acute kidney injury. This protein is thought to be be involved in multiple cellular processes, including maintenance of skin homeostasis, and suppression of invasiveness and metastasis. Mice lacking this gene are more susceptible to bacterial infection than wild type mice. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2015]

Active trials

Pathogenic / LP

ClinVar variants

Pubs (1 yr)

-0.4

Missense Z

1.72

LOEUF

Clinical Summary— LCN2

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Population Constraint (gnomAD)

Low constraint (pLI 0.00) — loss-of-function variants are relatively tolerated in the population.

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Clinical Trials

9 active or recruiting trials — potential therapeutic options may be available

Population Genetics & Constraint

gnomAD v4 — loss-of-function & missense intolerance

gnomAD

Tolerant — LoF & missense variants common in population

LoF Constraint?LOEUF (Loss-of-function Observed/Expected Upper bound Fraction) is the upper bound of the 90% CI for LoF OE — the preferred gnomAD v4 metric. Lower = more intolerant to LoF. LOEUF < 0.35 = highly constrained.

1.72LOEUF

pLI 0.000

Z-score -0.35

OE 1.11 (0.72–1.72)

Tolerant

Highly tolerant — LoF variants common in population

Missense Constraint?Missense Z-score: standard deviations fewer missense variants observed vs. expected. Z > 3.09 (p < 0.001) = gene does not tolerate missense variation. OE missense < 0.6 is also considered constrained.

-0.43Z-score

OE missense 1.12 (0.96–1.30)

122 obs / 109.3 exp

Tolerant

Tolerant to missense variation

Observed / Expected Ratios?Shaded band = 90% confidence interval. Vertical tick = point estimate. Grey threshold line = gnomAD constraint cutoff for that variant class.

LoF OE?Ratio of observed to expected LoF variants. Upper CI bound (LOEUF) ≤ 0.35 = strong LoF constraint signal.1.11 (0.72–1.72)

0≤0.351.4

Missense OE?Ratio of observed to expected missense variants. OE ≤ 0.6 = fewer missense variants than expected by chance.1.12 (0.96–1.30)

0≤0.61.4

Synonymous OE?Control metric — synonymous variants are largely neutral and expected near OE = 1.0. Significant deviation may indicate annotation issues.0.83

0≤1.21.6

LoF obs/exp: 13 / 11.7Missense obs/exp: 122 / 109.3Syn Z: 0.96

0.6552th %ile

GOF

0.5955th %ile

LOF

0.2582th %ile

The highest-scoring mechanism for this gene is dominant-negative.

DNprediction above median

Note: In-silico variant effect predictors (SIFT, PolyPhen, REVEL, CADD) may underestimate pathogenicity of missense variants in genes with GOF or DN mechanisms. Consider functional evidence and clinical context.

Predictions from Badonyi M, Marsh JA. PLoS ONE. 2024;19(8):e0307312.