Description
FAM129B/Niban-like protein 1 (family with sequence similarity 129, member B) belongs to a poorly characterized family of Niban proteins that also includes FAM129A/Niban and FAM129C/Niban-like protein 2. FAM129A/Niban is implicated in the ER stress response and is upregulated at the protein level in thyroid carcinoma. FAM129C/Niban-like protein 2 is preferentially expressed in B-cells and is one of five biomarkers upregulated in whole blood from patients with colorectal carcinoma. FAM129B is broadly expressed and has been shown to be a downstream target of B-Raf in melanoma cells. Though FAM129B does not appear to regulate cell growth and division, phosphorylation of FAM129B by B-Raf is essential for the invasive potential of melanoma and non-melanoma cell lines. Deletion of FAM129B in melanoma cells significantly impairs B-Raf/MEK/Erk-dependent invasion into the extracellular matrix