This family includes spermatogenesis-associated serine-rich protein 2 (SPATS2) and SPATS2-like proteins from mammals. SPATS2 is involved in spermatogenesis and likely to be a cytoplasmic RNA-binding protein [1,2]. SPATS2 is highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and may function as an oncogene. It constitutes a novel diagnostic prognostic marker in liver cancer and a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC [3].

1: SPATS2, negatively regulated by miR-145-5p, promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression through regulating cell cycle. Dong G, Zhang S, Shen S, Sun L, Wang X, Wang H, Wu J, Liu T, Wang C, Wang H, Lu T, Rao B, Ren Z; Cell Death Dis. 2020;11:837. PMID:33037180

2: SPATS2 is positively activated by long noncoding RNA SNHG5 via regulating DNMT3a\texpression to promote hepatocellular carcinoma progression. Yan J, Huang QY, Huang YJ, Wang CS, Liu PX; PLoS One. 2022;17:e0262262. PMID:35077478

3: Comprehensive evaluation of SPATS2 expression and its prognostic potential in liver cancer. Xing J, Tian Y, Ji W, Wang X; Medicine (Baltimore). 2020;99:e19230. PMID:32118724