DCTN2 Gene

HGNC Family	Dynactin (DCTN)
Name	dynactin 2 (p50)
Description	This gene encodes a 50-kD subunit of dynactin, a macromolecular complex consisting of 10-11 subunits ranging in size from 22 to 150 kD. Dynactin binds to both microtubules and cytoplasmic dynein. It is involved in a diverse array of cellular functions, including ER-to-Golgi transport, the centripetal movement of lysosomes and endosomes, spindle formation, chromosome movement, nuclear positioning, and axonogenesis. This subunit is present in 4-5 copies per dynactin molecule. It contains three short alpha-helical coiled-coil domains that may mediate association with self or other dynactin subunits. It may interact directly with the largest subunit (p150) of dynactin and may affix p150 in place. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, May 2012]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n DCTN2, which encodes the p50 “dynamitin” subunit of the dynactin complex, is a critical adaptor that bridges cytoplasmic dynein with its cargo and facilitates sustained microtubule‐based transport. In its normal function, DCTN2 contributes to the recruitment and tethering of dynein–dynactin complexes onto specific organelles and vesicles, thereby ensuring effective retrograde movement toward microtubule minus‐ends. Disruption of DCTN2 function—for example, by overexpression of dominant‐negative p50/dynamitin—leads to the uncoupling of dynein from its cargo. Such perturbations result in dramatic alterations in organelle positioning and dynamics, including the collapse or misdistribution of mitochondria and Golgi fragments, impaired trafficking of receptors and ion channels, and defects in processes such as cell migration and nuclear translocation of signaling proteins. These findings, observed in studies where p50/dynamitin overexpression or interference impaired normal dynein–dynactin function, underscore the essential role of DCTN2 in coordinating dynamic intracellular transport."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "1", "end_ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Aniko Varadi, Linda I Johnson-Cadwell, Vincenzo Cirulli, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cytoplasmic dynein regulates the subcellular distribution of mitochondria by controlling the recruitment of the fission factor dynamin-related protein-1."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Cell Sci (2004)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1242/jcs.01299"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.01299"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15304525"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15304525"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Hongmei Wang, Xiaoyu Hu, Xia Ding, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Human Zwint-1 specifies localization of Zeste White 10 to kinetochores and is essential for mitotic checkpoint signaling."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Biol Chem (2004)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1074/jbc.M407588200"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M407588200"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15485811"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15485811"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Woo Sung Choi, Anu Khurana, Rajesh Mathur, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Kv1.5 surface expression is modulated by retrograde trafficking of newly endocytosed channels by the dynein motor."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Circ Res (2005)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1161/01.RES.0000179535.06458.f8"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1161/01.RES.0000179535.06458.f8"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16051887"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16051887"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Denis L Dujardin, Lora E Barnhart, Stephanie A Stehman, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A role for cytoplasmic dynein and LIS1 in directed cell movement."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Cell Biol (2003)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1083/jcb.200310097"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200310097"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "14691133"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14691133"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	DCTN50, DYNAMITIN, RBP50, HEL-S-77
Proteins	DCTN2_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	10540
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

DCTN2 has 7,985 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, functional term, phrase or reference, chemical, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 122 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for DCTN2 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

DCTN2 Gene

Functional Associations

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

	Dataset	Summary
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of DCTN2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of DCTN2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse 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 DCTN2 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 DCTN2 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 DCTN2 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 DCTN2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Biocarta Pathways	pathways involving DCTN2 protein from the Biocarta Pathways dataset.
	BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of DCTN2 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 DCTN2 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 DCTN2 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of DCTN2 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 DCTN2 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with DCTN2 protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with DCTN2 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 DCTN2 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of DCTN2 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 DCTN2 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CM4AI U2OS Cell Map Protein Localization Assemblies	assemblies containing DCTN2 protein from integrated AP-MS and IF data from the CM4AI U2OS Cell Map Protein Localization Assemblies dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of DCTN2 gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing DCTN2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing DCTN2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing DCTN2 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing DCTN2 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with DCTN2 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 DCTN2 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of DCTN2 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with DCTN2 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with DCTN2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with DCTN2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action	small molecule perturbations with high or low expression of DCTN2 protein relative to other small molecule perturbations from the DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action dataset.
	DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases involving DCTN2 gene from the DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with DCTN2 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with DCTN2 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 DCTN2 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 DCTN2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with DCTN2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at DCTN2 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 DCTN2 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of DCTN2 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 DCTN2 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.