The NDRG family consisting of NDRG1, NDRG2, NDRG3, and NDRG4 are structurally related proteins with roles in cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, stress responses, and cell migration/metastasis. NDRG1 was originally identified as a protein that was upregulated in N-Myc knockout mice. Proteins in the NDRG family, particularly NDRG1 and NDRG2, have been reported to be down-regulated in various cancer tissues and have been suggested to function as a tumor suppressors.Expression of NDRG1 and NDRG2 is up-regulated by p53 and HIF-1, and contributes to apoptosis driven by those pathways. NDRG1 and NDRG2 are also associated with pathological conditions in the nervous system. Nonsense mutation of the NDRG1 gene has been shown to cause hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy-Lom, which is supported by studies demonstrating the role of NDRG1 in maintaining myelin sheaths and axonal survival. Elevated expression of NDRG2 has been observed with Alzheimer's disease. Both NDGR1 and NDGR2 are phosphorylated at multiple sites by Akt and/or SGK1, although the precise physiological role of this phosphorylation is not known.
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