COX8A Gene

HGNC Family	Mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes
Name	cytochrome c oxidase subunit VIIIA (ubiquitous)
Description	The protein encoded by this gene is the terminal enzyme of the respiratory chain, coupling the transfer of electrons from cytochrome c to molecular oxygen, with the concomitant production of a proton electrochemical gradient across the inner mitochondrial membrane. In addition to 3 mitochondrially encoded subunits, which perform the catalytic function, the eukaryotic enzyme contains nuclear-encoded smaller subunits, ranging in number from 4 in some organisms to 10 in mammals. It has been proposed that nuclear-encoded subunits may be involved in the modulation of the catalytic function. This gene encodes one of the nuclear-encoded subunits. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n COX8A is one of the nuclear‐encoded subunits of cytochrome c oxidase (Complex IV), the terminal enzyme of the mitochondrial electron transport chain that catalyzes the transfer of electrons from cytochrome c to molecular oxygen—a step that is critical for efficient ATP production and maintenance of cellular metabolic homeostasis. Although none of the provided studies focus exclusively on COX8A, several of the abstracts underscore the importance of intact Complex IV function as part of overall mitochondrial integrity. For example, research demonstrating that increased mitochondrial iron loading elevates the levels of cytochrome c oxidase—and that dysregulation of this process can induce mitochondrial dysfunction associated with pulmonary and inflammatory pathology—highlights how proper complex assembly (in which COX8A is an essential component) is vital for cellular energy balance."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In addition, studies addressing the role of mitochondrial transcription factors and posttranslational modifications in regulating mitochondrial gene expression imply that factors affecting the transcription and assembly of the electron transport chain, including Complex IV subunits such as COX8A, can have downstream effects on electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Furthermore, investigations into mitochondrial STAT3’s contribution to electron transport chain activity demonstrate that optimal function of multiple complexes is interdependent, with proper Complex IV activity being critical for maintaining overall respiratory chain performance."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n In summary, while COX8A itself is not the central focus of these studies, its role as a structural and regulatory component of Complex IV is implied by the broader research on mitochondrial function. The maintenance of intact Complex IV activity—dependent on the proper expression, assembly, and regulation of subunits like COX8A—is essential for effective electron transfer, ATP synthesis, and cellular homeostasis. Disruptions in these processes are implicated in multiple disease contexts, including inflammatory lung injury, neurodegeneration, and cancer, suggesting that further study of Complex IV dynamics (and by extension, subunits such as COX8A) may reveal novel therapeutic targets for conditions associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Suzanne M Cloonan, Kimberly Glass, Maria E Laucho-Contreras, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Mitochondrial iron chelation ameliorates cigarette smoke-induced bronchitis and emphysema in mice."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nat Med (2016)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/nm.4021"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4021"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "26752519"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26752519"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Bin Lu, Jae Lee, Xiaobo Nie, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Phosphorylation of human TFAM in mitochondria impairs DNA binding and promotes degradation by the AAA+ Lon protease."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Mol Cell (2013)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.molcel.2012.10.023"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2012.10.023"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "23201127"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23201127"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Joanna Wegrzyn, Ramesh Potla, Yong-Joon Chwae, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Function of mitochondrial Stat3 in cellular respiration."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Science (2009)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1126/science.1164551"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1164551"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "19131594"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19131594"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	COX8-2, COX8, VIII, COX, COX8L, VIII-L
Proteins	COX8A_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	1351
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

COX8A has 10,657 functional associations with biological entities spanning 8 categories (molecular profile, organism, chemical, disease, phenotype or trait, functional term, phrase or reference, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA) extracted from 120 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for COX8A from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

COX8A Gene

Functional Associations

Please acknowledge the Harmonizome in your publications by citing the following reference(s):

	Dataset	Summary
	Achilles Cell Line Gene Essentiality Profiles	cell lines with fitness changed by COX8A gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the Achilles Cell Line Gene Essentiality Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of COX8A gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles	tissue samples with high or low expression of COX8A gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of COX8A gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq	tissue samples with high or low expression of COX8A gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of COX8A gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of COX8A gene relative to other cell lines from the BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of COX8A gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of COX8A gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures	small molecule perturbations changing expression of COX8A gene from the Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of COX8A gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of COX8A gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with COX8A gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of COX8A gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of COX8A gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022	transcription factors binding the promoter of COX8A gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	ClinVar Gene-Phenotype Associations 2025	phenotypes associated with COX8A gene from the curated ClinVar Gene-Phenotype Associations 2025 dataset.
	CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas	gene perturbations changing expression of COX8A gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of COX8A gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing COX8A protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing COX8A protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with COX8A protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components co-occuring with COX8A protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	CORUM Protein Complexes	protein complexs containing COX8A protein from the CORUM Protein Complexes dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of COX8A gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with COX8A gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with COX8A gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with COX8A gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by COX8A gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DGIdb Drug Targets 2026	interacting drugs for COX8A protein from the DGIdb Drug Targets 2026 dataset.
	DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases involving COX8A gene from the DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with COX8A gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases co-occuring with COX8A gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with COX8A gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with COX8A gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	DrugBank Drug Targets	interacting drugs for COX8A protein from the curated DrugBank Drug Targets dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at COX8A gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of COX8A gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of COX8A gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing COX8A from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.