POLR2B Gene

HGNC Family	RNA polymerase subunits (POLR)
Name	polymerase (RNA) II (DNA directed) polypeptide B, 140kDa
Description	This gene encodes the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (Pol II), a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase that catalyzes the transcription of DNA into precursors of mRNA, snRNA and microRNA. This subunit and the largest subunit form opposite sides of the center cleft of Pol II. Deletion of the flap loop region of this subunit results in a decrease in the rate of transcriptional elongation. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Dec 2014]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nPOLR2B encodes the second largest subunit (RPB2) of RNA polymerase II and is central to the transcription cycle. Its participation in the assembly and regulation of the core enzyme is highlighted by studies showing that optimal recruitment of RNA Pol II by coactivators occurs via direct interactions with the CTD, ensuring proper initiation and efficient transition into productive elongation."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Mutagenesis analyses have further underscored the importance of evolutionarily conserved residues in POLR2B; for example, substitution of a key glutamate in RPB2 (E791A) severely impairs nucleotide polymerization and transcript cleavage, particularly under limiting NTP or Mg2+ conditions, thereby emphasizing its role in maintaining the catalytic function and fidelity of transcription."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nBeyond its fundamental role in transcription, the function of POLR2B is implicated in disease contexts. Haplotype analyses have associated variants in POLR2B with head and neck cancers, suggesting that alterations in its genomic sequence may contribute to oncogenic risk."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Moreover, modulation of RNA polymerase II’s activity by viral proteins such as HDAg—which interacts with the enzyme’s mobile clamp domain—further reveals that POLR2B enables not only regulated elongation rates but also impacts nucleotide selection and fidelity during RNA-dependent RNA synthesis."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Complementing these findings is the broader insight into transcription regulation provided by studies of promoter-proximal pausing, where dynamic changes in transcript elongation influence the expression of many stimulus-responsive genes."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nIn the context of cancer biology, POLR2B itself emerges as a critical growth regulator. In glioblastoma, overexpression and genomic alterations of POLR2B have been documented, and knockdown experiments have shown that reduced POLR2B levels diminish tumor cell proliferation both in vitro and in xenograft models."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Additionally, an intricate regulatory network in glioma stem cells involves a circular RNA derived from POLR2B (circPOLR2B) that forms R-loop structures with its parental gene. This interaction is key in modulating alternative polyadenylation of downstream targets (such as PBX1), thereby influencing malignant behavior, and further emphasizing the multifaceted regulatory role of POLR2B in tumor pathobiology."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "7"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n"}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Anders M Näär, Dylan J Taatjes, Weiguo Zhai, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Human CRSP interacts with RNA polymerase II CTD and adopts a specific CTD-bound conformation."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Genes Dev (2002)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1101/gad.987602"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.987602"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "12050112"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12050112"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Marie-France Langelier, Dania Baali, Vincent Trinh, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The highly conserved glutamic acid 791 of Rpb2 is involved in the binding of NTP and Mg(B) in the active center of human RNA polymerase II."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nucleic Acids Res (2005)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1093/nar/gki570"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gki570"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15886393"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15886393"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Stefan Michiels, Patrick Danoy, Philippe Dessen, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Polymorphism discovery in 62 DNA repair genes and haplotype associations with risks for lung and head and neck cancers."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Carcinogenesis (2007)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1093/carcin/bgm111"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1093/carcin/bgm111"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "17494052"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17494052"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yuki Yamaguchi, Takashi Mura, Sittinan Chanarat, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Hepatitis delta antigen binds to the clamp of RNA polymerase II and affects transcriptional fidelity."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Genes Cells (2007)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1111/j.1365-2443.2007.01094.x"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2443.2007.01094.x"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "17584298"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17584298"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Sergei Nechaev, Karen Adelman "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Pol II waiting in the starting gates: Regulating the transition from transcription initiation into productive elongation."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Biochim Biophys Acta (2011)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.bbagrm.2010.11.001"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbagrm.2010.11.001"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "21081187"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21081187"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Xiao-Lu Li, Yi Xie, Yan-Ling Chen, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The RNA polymerase II subunit B (RPB2) functions as a growth regulator in human glioblastoma."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Biochem Biophys Res Commun (2023)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.bbrc.2023.06.088"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2023.06.088"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "37423037"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37423037"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Hongda Lin, Zheng Cui, Tiange E, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "M6A-methylated circPOLR2B forms an R-loop and regulates the biological behavior of glioma stem cells through positive feedback loops."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cell Death Dis (2024)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/s41419-024-06946-6"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-024-06946-6"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "39090090"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39090090"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	RPB2, HRPB140, POL2RB
Proteins	RPB2_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	5431
API
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Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

POLR2B has 7,732 functional associations with biological entities spanning 8 categories (molecular profile, organism, chemical, functional term, phrase or reference, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA) extracted from 119 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for POLR2B from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with POLR2B protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of POLR2B gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of POLR2B 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 POLR2B gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of POLR2B gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing POLR2B protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing POLR2B protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing POLR2B protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with POLR2B 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 POLR2B protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	CORUM Protein Complexes	protein complexs containing POLR2B protein from the CORUM Protein Complexes dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of POLR2B gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with POLR2B gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with POLR2B gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with POLR2B gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with POLR2B 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 POLR2B 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 POLR2B gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of POLR2B 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 POLR2B from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with POLR2B gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with POLR2B gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD High Level Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of POLR2B gene relative to other cell lines from the GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations	biological terms co-occuring with POLR2B gene in literature-supported statements describing functions of genes from the GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations dataset.
	GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing POLR2B from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset.