HIG2 is a 63 amino acid single-pass membrane protein that can be hypoxia induced by glucose deprivation. Expression of HIG2 is increased in cervical cancer cells but inhibited in renal cell carcinoma. When bound to the extracellular domain of frizzled-10, HIG2 enhances oncogenic Wnt signaling and its own transcription, which suggests HIG2 may function as an autocrine growth factor. HIG2 may be a candidate for development of molecular-targeting therapy and could serve as a prominent diagnostic tumor marker for patients with renal carcinomas. The gene encoding HIG2 maps to human chromosome 7, which houses over 1,000 genes and comprises nearly 5% of the human genome. Defects in some of the genes localized to chromosome 7 have been linked to Osteogenesis imperfecta, Williams-Beuren syndrome, Pendred syndrome, Lissencephaly, Citrullinemia and Shwachman-Diamond syndrome.