liver cancer. While brachyury is promoting EMT, it can also induce metastasis of HCC cells. Brachyury expression is a prognostic biomarker for HCC, and the gene may be a target for cancer treatments in the future. Other diseases Overexpression of brachyury may play a part in EMT associated with benign disease such as renal fibrosis. Role as a therapeutic target Because brachyury is expressed in tumors but not in normal adult tissues it has been proposed as a potential drug target with applicability across tumor types. In particular, brachyury-specific peptides are presented on HLA receptors of cells in which it is expressed, representing a tumor specific antigen. Various therapeutic vaccines have been developed which are intended to stimulate an immune response to brachyury expressing cells. See also Homeobox protein NANOG POU5F1 SOX2 MIXL1 GSC Transcription factors Gene regulatory network Bioinformatics Chordoma References Further reading External links Protein Atlas entry for Brachyury Mouse Genome Informatics entry for Brachyury European Bioinformatics Institute InterPro entry for Brachyury Information Hyperlinked Over Proteins entry for Brachyury Xenbase Gene entry for Brachyury Transcription factors Embryology