Seroatlas · Human Serome Atlas

GCNA

Germ cell nuclear acidic protein

Also known as: ACRC, GCNA_HUMAN, NAAR1

Cross-references: UniProt · Ensembl · Human Protein Atlas · GeneCards · NCBI Gene

Protein identityUniProt · HPA

UniProt accession: Q96QF7
Gene: GCNA
Ensembl: ENSG00000147174
Chromosome: X
Canonical length: 691 aa
Protein class: Disease related genes, Human disease related genes, Predicted intracellular proteins
Subcellular location: Nucleoplasm

OverviewNCBI Gene

Enables SUMO polymer binding activity. Involved in protein-DNA covalent cross-linking repair. Located in PML body. Implicated in X-linked spermatogenic failure 4. [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Jul 2025]

Canonical amino-acid sequenceUniProt

691 residues, UniProt reviewed canonical sequence.

>Q96QF7|GCNA
     1  MDGCKKELPR LQEPEEDEDC YILNVQSSSD DTSGSSVARR APKRQASCIL NVQSRSGDTS
    61  GSSVARRAPK RQASSVVVID SDSDEECHTH EEKKAKLLEI NSDDESPECC HVKPAIQEPP
   121  IVISDDDNDD DNGNDLEVPD DNSDDSEAPD DNSDDSEAPD DNSDDSEAPD DNSDDSEAPD
   181  DNSDDSDVPD DNSDDSSDDN SDDSSDDNSD DSDVPDDKSD DSDVPDDSSD DSDVPDDSSD
   241  DSEAPDDSSD DSEAPDDSSD DSEAPDDSSD DSEAPDDSSD DSEASDDSSD DSEASDDSSD
   301  DSEAPDDKSD DSDVPEDKSD DSDVPDDNSD DLEVPVPAED LCNEGQIASD EEELVEAAAA
   361  VSQHDSSDDA GEQDLGENLS KPPSDPEANP EVSERKLPTE EEPAPVVEQS GKRKSKTKTI
   421  VEPPRKRQTK TKNIVEPPRK RQTKTKNIVE PLRKRKAKTK NVSVTPGHKK RGPSKKKPGA
   481  AKVEKRKTRT PKCKVPGCFL QDLEKSKKYS GKNLKRNKDE LVQRIYDLFN RSVCDKKLPE
   541  KLRIGWNNKM VKTAGLCSTG EMWYPKWRRF AKIQIGLKVC DSADRIRDTL IHEMCHAASW
   601  LIDGIHDSHG DAWKYYARKS NRIHPELPRV TRCHNYKINY KVHYECTGCK TRIGCYTKSL
   661  DTSRFICAKC KGSLVMVPLT QKDGTRIVPH V

LocalizationUniProt · AlphaFold · HPA

Whether an antibody against GCNA can act on the native protein depends on physical access: surface and secreted proteins are reachable by circulating antibodies, intracellular proteins usually are not.

Antibody reachability: Intracellular
Secreted: No
Transmembrane segments: 0
Mean surface accessibility (rSASA): 0.59
Highest tissue expression: 10 nTPM

Expression across tissuesHPA

Tissue

testis: 10 nTPM
adrenal gland: 5.3 nTPM
spleen: 4.8 nTPM
cerebellum: 4.4 nTPM
skeletal muscle: 4 nTPM
liver: 2.5 nTPM

Single-cell type

differentiating spermatogonia: 85 nCPM
myonuclei: 50 nCPM
adrenal cortex cells: 42 nCPM
platelets: 33 nCPM
t-cells: 30 nCPM
endometrial glandular cells: 28 nCPM

Immune cell

memory CD8 T-cell: 0.8 nTPM
T-reg: 0.8 nTPM
memory CD4 T-cell: 0.4 nTPM
MAIT T-cell: 0.3 nTPM
memory B-cell: 0.3 nTPM
NK-cell: 0.3 nTPM

Brain region

cerebral cortex: 12 nTPM
cerebellum: 6.6 nTPM
medulla oblongata: 6.4 nTPM
hypothalamus: 5.9 nTPM
white matter: 5.8 nTPM
hippocampal formation: 5.3 nTPM

DiseaseUniProt · ClinVar · IEDB · PubMed

Four sources answering four different questions about GCNA.

Disease | AllUniProt

Conditions GCNA is implicated in, by any mechanism.

Spermatogenic failure, X-linked, 4 (SPGFX4) MIM:301077

Disease | GeneticClinVar

4 pathogenic / likely-pathogenic of 184 ClinVar records.

Conditions with pathogenic or likely-pathogenic variants.

Spermatogenic failure, X-linked, 4
Non-obstructive azoospermia
Azoospermia

Genetic constraint and essentialitygnomAD · DepMap

Does the body need this protein intact? Low LOEUF or a strong DepMap dependency means loss or blockade of the protein is likely to be felt.

gnomAD LOEUF (loss-of-function intolerance): 0.27
gnomAD pLI: 0.99
DepMap mean gene effect: -0.09
DepMap dependency class: selective

Cancer expressionTCGA

Across TCGA tumor cohorts, this protein is over-expressed in roughly 4% of surveyed tumor types (aggregate summary; per-cohort expression, alteration, and survival load in the interactive view).

OntologyGO

Biological processes

protein-DNA covalent cross-linking repair

Molecular functions

SUMO polymer binding

Cellular components

Protein domainsUniProt · Pfam · InterPro

KeywordsUniProt

InteractionsUniProt · HPA

Protein binding partners of GCNA in the human serome: UniProt-annotated complex subunits plus reported interactors. Each links to its own Seroatlas record.

Antibody and autoantibody relevanceSeroatlas analysis

Seroatlas reads GCNA as an antibody target. Whether an autoantibody or antibody against GCNA could matter depends on whether native GCNA is physically reachable, whether the body needs it intact, and whether it acts in a disease-relevant tissue.

GCNA is annotated as predominantly intracellular. Intracellular proteins are common autoantibody markers, becoming visible to the immune system after cell injury or altered processing, but are usually markers of disease rather than direct drivers.

Annotation status

The present source text does not explicitly label GCNA as an autoantigen. Seroatlas presents hypothesis context only and does not manufacture a known-serology claim.

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