COX17

gene
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Summary

COX17 (cytochrome c oxidase copper chaperone COX17, HGNC:2264) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 3q13.33, encoding Cytochrome c oxidase copper chaperone (Q14061). Copper metallochaperone involved in the assembly of cytochrome c oxidase (respiratory chain complex IV, CIV). It is a selective cancer dependency (DepMap: 86.7% of cell lines).

Cytochrome c oxidase (COX), the terminal component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, catalyzes the electron transfer from reduced cytochrome c to oxygen. This component is a heteromeric complex consisting of 3 catalytic subunits encoded by mitochondrial genes and multiple structural subunits encoded by nuclear genes. The mitochondrially-encoded subunits function in electron transfer, and the nuclear-encoded subunits may function in the regulation and assembly of the complex. This nuclear gene encodes a protein which is not a structural subunit, but may be involved in the recruitment of copper to mitochondria for incorporation into the COX apoenzyme. This protein shares 92% amino acid sequence identity with mouse and rat Cox17 proteins. This gene is no longer considered to be a candidate gene for COX deficiency. A pseudogene COX17P has been found on chromosome 13.

Source: NCBI Gene 10063 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • GWAS associations: 2
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 10 total
  • Cancer dependency (DepMap): dependent in 86.7% of screened cell lines
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_005694

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:2264
Approved symbolCOX17
Namecytochrome c oxidase copper chaperone COX17
Location3q13.33
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
Ensembl geneENSG00000138495
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM604813
Entrez10063

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 16 — 12 protein_coding, 3 nonsense_mediated_decay, 1 retained_intron

ENST00000261070, ENST00000468918, ENST00000484810, ENST00000486606, ENST00000490145, ENST00000497116, ENST00000497997, ENST00000896582, ENST00000896583, ENST00000896584, ENST00000896585, ENST00000911301, ENST00000911302, ENST00000911303, ENST00000911304, ENST00000958270

RefSeq mRNA: 3 — MANE Select: NM_005694 NM_001382002, NM_001382003, NM_005694

CCDS: CCDS2993, CCDS93345

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000261070 — 3 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE00000934178119677204119677406
ENSE00001837763119669532119669665
ENSE00003509729119675145119675233

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 136 present calls, max score 99.19.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth tissue_specific, TPM avg 0.2591 / max 54.2742, expressed in 112 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (2 alternative TSS)

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
4403562.37271824
440330.2591112

Top tissues by expression

136 total, by Bgee expression score (0-100, higher = more expressed):

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
pituitary glandUBERON:000000799.19gold quality
adenohypophysisUBERON:000219699.11gold quality
heart left ventricleUBERON:000208499.06gold quality
apex of heartUBERON:000209899.02gold quality
right atrium auricular regionUBERON:000663199.02gold quality
left adrenal gland cortexUBERON:003582599.00gold quality
left adrenal glandUBERON:000123498.98gold quality
right adrenal glandUBERON:000123398.97gold quality
gastrocnemiusUBERON:000138898.96gold quality
muscle of legUBERON:000138398.93gold quality
right adrenal gland cortexUBERON:003582798.91gold quality
heartUBERON:000094898.83gold quality
adrenal glandUBERON:000236998.80gold quality
skeletal muscle tissueUBERON:000113498.69gold quality
hindlimb stylopod muscleUBERON:000425298.65gold quality
hypothalamusUBERON:000189898.43gold quality
C1 segment of cervical spinal cordUBERON:000646998.32gold quality
substantia nigraUBERON:000203898.29gold quality
muscle tissueUBERON:000238598.28gold quality
lower esophagus muscularis layerUBERON:003583398.24gold quality
lower esophagusUBERON:001347398.23gold quality
olfactory segment of nasal mucosaUBERON:000538698.21gold quality
right lobe of liverUBERON:000111498.19gold quality
fundus of stomachUBERON:000116098.16gold quality
esophagogastric junction muscularis propriaUBERON:003584198.16gold quality
body of stomachUBERON:000116198.14gold quality
mucosa of transverse colonUBERON:000499198.14gold quality
calcaneal tendonUBERON:000370198.11gold quality
Brodmann (1909) area 9UBERON:001354098.08gold quality
islet of LangerhansUBERON:000000698.03gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 8 experiment(s), a significant marker in 6.

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-HCAD-1yes18.21
E-MTAB-6701yes16.75
E-GEOD-135922yes8.24
E-MTAB-7316yes8.11
E-HCAD-10yes6.28
E-CURD-10no359.44
E-HCAD-31no21.97
E-ANND-3no0.00

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

Upstream regulators (CollecTRI, top): NFE2L2, NRF1, SP1

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

16 targeting COX17, top 30 by miRDB confidence (max_score; target_count = how many genes the miRNA targets in total — lower means more specific):

miRNAMax scoreAvg scoremiRNA target_count
HSA-MIR-340-5P100.0072.504437
HSA-MIR-150-5P99.9966.691976
HSA-MIR-3692-3P99.9870.272139
HSA-MIR-4778-3P99.9370.401818
HSA-MIR-95-5P99.8972.173973
HSA-MIR-313399.8170.923506
HSA-MIR-4659A-3P99.8072.624248
HSA-MIR-4659B-3P99.8072.624248
HSA-MIR-141-5P99.5767.86897
HSA-MIR-1212399.5271.792990
HSA-MIR-377-3P99.3770.181905
HSA-MIR-397399.2069.191990
HSA-MIR-628-3P99.0468.37814
HSA-MIR-520G-3P98.9167.381914
HSA-MIR-520H98.9167.381914
HSA-MIR-1298-5P95.9664.81573

Functional genomics

DepMap (CRISPR cell-line fitness): dependent in 86.7% of screened cell lines.

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 14)

  • Data imply that up-regulation of COX17 function and increased cytochrome c oxidase activity are frequent features of lung carcinogenesis. (PMID:14612491)
  • The binding of copper to Cox17 is needed to activate cytochrome c oxidase by Cox17. (PMID:15504366)
  • Cox17-mediated copper metallation of Sco1, as well as the subsequent failure of Cu(A) site maturation, is the basis for the inefficient assembly of the cytochrome c oxidase complex in SCO1 patients (PMID:16520371)
  • Cox17 was studied with regard to its expression, purification, and formation of mixed disulfide adducts with sulfhydryl reagents. (PMID:17208454)
  • XAS (X-ray absorption spectroscopy) determined that Cu4Cox17 contains a Cu4S6-type copper-thiolate cluster, which may provide safe storage of an excess of copper ions (PMID:17672825)
  • Cu(I)HCox17(2S-S), i.e., the copper-loaded form of the protein, can transfer simultaneously copper(I) and two electrons to the human cochaperone Sco1 (HSco1) in the oxidized state, i.e., with its metal-binding cysteines forming a disulfide bond. (PMID:18458339)
  • the absence of Cox17 interferes with copper delivery to Cox2, but not to Cox1. (PMID:19393246)
  • Functional role of two interhelical disulfide bonds in human Cox17 protein from a structural perspective. (PMID:21816817)
  • CTR1 silencing increased the protein levels of copper chaperone ATOX1 and copper chaperone for superoxide dismutase 1 (CCS-1), but decreased copper chaperone for cytochrome c oxidase (COX17). (PMID:24343031)
  • Data suggest that Cox17 enhances the reactivity of some platinum/organoplatinum antineoplastic drugs but suppresses the reactivity of at least one platinum antineoplastic drug; glutathione modulates binding of platinum/organoplatinum drugs to Cox17. (PMID:26399480)
  • Data show that the redox state of cytochrome c oxidase assembly protein 17 (Cox17), mitochondrial membrane transport protein Mia40 and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) in the cytoplasm were directly observed with in-cell NMR spectroscopy. (PMID:26589182)
  • In addition to Atox1, the human cytoplasm also contains Cu chaperones for loading of superoxide dismutase 1 (i.e. CCS) and cytochrome c oxidase in mitochondria (i.e. Cox17). [review] (PMID:26745464)
  • These results collectively indicate that Cox17 might not participate in the action of these anticancer organoruthenium complexes, and further verify the distinct anticancer mechanism of the organoruthenium(II) complexes from cisplatin. (PMID:27235272)
  • characterize the disorder-to-order transition of a Mia40 substrate, the human small copper chaperone Cox17 (PMID:29208936)

Cross-species orthologs

2 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
mus_musculusCox17ENSMUSG00000046516
rattus_norvegicusCox17ENSRNOG00000076347

Protein

Protein identifiers

Cytochrome c oxidase copper chaperoneQ14061 (reviewed: Q14061)

All UniProt accessions (4): Q14061, C9J8T6, H7C4E5, H7C5P5

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Copper metallochaperone involved in the assembly of cytochrome c oxidase (respiratory chain complex IV, CIV). Binds two copper ions and delivers them to metallochaperones SCO1 and SCO2, which co-chaperone the copper ions to the Cu(A) site on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (MT-CO2/COX2), and to metallochaperone COX11 which relays the copper to the Cu(B) site on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (MT-CO1/COX1).

Subunit / interactions. Interacts with COA1. Interacts with the chaperone CHCHD4; this is important for correct folding and the formation of disulfide bonds that stabilize the structure.

Subcellular location. Mitochondrion intermembrane space. Cytoplasm.

Tissue specificity. Ubiquitous.

Post-translational modifications. Acetylation by KAT8 promotes assembly of the mitochondrial respiratory chain complex IV (CIV).

Similarity. Belongs to the COX17 family.

RefSeq proteins (3): NP_001368931, NP_001368932, NP_005685* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR007745Cyt_c_oxidase_Cu-chaperoneFamily
IPR009069Cys_alpha_HP_mot_SFHomologous_superfamily

Pfam: PF05051

UniProt features (17 total): modified residue 3, helix 3, disulfide bond 2, short sequence motif 2, binding site 2, initiator methionine 1, chain 1, strand 1, domain 1, region of interest 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

4 structures.

PDBMethodResolution (Å)
2L0YSOLUTION NMR
2LGQSOLUTION NMR
2RN9SOLUTION NMR
2RNBSOLUTION NMR

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-Q14061-F172.620.07

Functional residue map

Curated UniProt residues grouped by drug-discovery relevance — catalytic, ligand-binding, modification, and mutation-validated positions. Source: UniProtKB sequence features.

Ligand- & substrate-binding residues (2): 23; 24

Post-translational modifications (3): 30, 14, 18

Disulfide bonds (2): 26–55, 36–45

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

2 pathways

IDPathway
R-HSA-1268020Mitochondrial protein import
R-HSA-9864848Complex IV assembly

MSigDB gene sets: 246 (showing top): GSE37336_LY6C_POS_VS_NEG_NAIVE_CD4_TCELL_UP, YAO_TEMPORAL_RESPONSE_TO_PROGESTERONE_CLUSTER_10, WANG_CLIM2_TARGETS_UP, GOBP_RESPIRATORY_CHAIN_COMPLEX_IV_ASSEMBLY, GRAESSMANN_APOPTOSIS_BY_DOXORUBICIN_DN, GRAESSMANN_RESPONSE_TO_MC_AND_DOXORUBICIN_DN, GOBP_MITOCHONDRIAL_RESPIRATORY_CHAIN_COMPLEX_ASSEMBLY, GOBP_CYTOCHROME_COMPLEX_ASSEMBLY, MORF_PPP6C, GOCC_MITOCHONDRIAL_ENVELOPE, TIEN_INTESTINE_PROBIOTICS_24HR_UP, RYTTCCTG_ETS2_B, WONG_MITOCHONDRIA_GENE_MODULE, BURTON_ADIPOGENESIS_5, ZHAN_VARIABLE_EARLY_DIFFERENTIATION_GENES_DN

GO Biological Process (6): heart development (GO:0007507), mitochondrial respiratory chain complex IV assembly (GO:0033617), generation of precursor metabolites and energy (GO:0006091), copper ion transport (GO:0006825), positive regulation of cell population proliferation (GO:0008284), positive regulation of cytochrome-c oxidase activity (GO:1904960)

GO Molecular Function (6): copper ion binding (GO:0005507), enzyme activator activity (GO:0008047), copper chaperone activity (GO:0016531), cuprous ion binding (GO:1903136), protein binding (GO:0005515), metal ion binding (GO:0046872)

GO Cellular Component (3): cytoplasm (GO:0005737), mitochondrion (GO:0005739), mitochondrial intermembrane space (GO:0005758)

Reactome top-level categories

Rollup of top-2 pathways:

CategoryPathways
Protein localization1
Respiratory electron transport1

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

CategoryTerms
copper ion binding2
animal organ development1
circulatory system development1
mitochondrion1
respiratory chain complex IV assembly1
mitochondrial respiratory chain complex assembly1
metabolic process1
transition metal ion transport1
cell population proliferation1
regulation of cell population proliferation1
positive regulation of cellular process1
cytochrome-c oxidase activity1
positive regulation of ion transmembrane transporter activity1
positive regulation of oxidoreductase activity1
regulation of cytochrome-c oxidase activity1
transition metal ion binding1
catalytic activity1
enzyme regulator activity1
molecular function activator activity1
metallochaperone activity1
binding1
cation binding1
intracellular anatomical structure1
cellular anatomical structure1
cytoplasm1
intracellular membrane-bounded organelle1
mitochondrial envelope1
organelle envelope lumen1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

1374 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
COX17SCO1O75880989
COX17COX19Q49B96975
COX17SCO2O43819965
COX17ATOX1O00244945
COX17COX11Q9Y6N1935
COX17CHCHD4Q8N4Q1904
COX17MT-CO2P00403894
COX17CCSO14618811
COX17SURF1Q15526808
COX17ATP7AQ04656775
COX17ATP7BP35670773
COX17SLC31A1O15431770
COX17COX10Q12887762
COX17COA6Q5JTJ3760
COX17SLC31A2O15432756

IntAct

39 interactions, top by confidence:

ABTypeScore
KATNAL1COX17psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.670
COX17KATNAL1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.670
SCO1COX17psi-mi:“MI:0407”(direct interaction)0.660
CHCHD4COX17psi-mi:“MI:0945”(oxidoreductase activity electron transfer reaction)0.560
CHCHD4COX17psi-mi:“MI:0407”(direct interaction)0.560
KRTAP10-8COX17psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
COX17SPRED1psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.560
COX17SCO2psi-mi:“MI:0407”(direct interaction)0.440
MIA40COX17psi-mi:“MI:0407”(direct interaction)0.440
HADHBCOX17psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.370
CAPZBENAHpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
COX17SUOXpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
P/VESYT2psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
AIFM1NUDT19psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.270
COX14NUDT19psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.270
PLGRKTHAX1psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.270
SCO1HAX1psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.270
SFXN1HAX1psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.270
CFTRUBA6psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.270
HNRNPCSBNO1psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.270
LARP7SBNO1psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.270
QKISMCHD1psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)0.270
COX17KRTAP10-8psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000
COX17UNC119psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.000

BioGRID (75): KATNAL1 (Two-hybrid), KATNAL1 (Two-hybrid), COX17 (Co-fractionation), COX17 (Co-fractionation), COX17 (Co-fractionation), COX17 (Co-fractionation), COX17 (Co-fractionation), COX17 (Co-fractionation), COX17 (Co-fractionation), MIF (Co-fractionation), SCYL2 (Co-fractionation), TALDO1 (Co-fractionation), TBCA (Co-fractionation), COX17 (Affinity Capture-MS), COX17 (Proximity Label-MS)

ESM2 similar proteins: A0A182IRF8, A0NAZ8, A5DUN2, B0WII7, B0Y310, C4Y2J3, C4YIM0, C5DJK6, C7GRF7, O42932, O45346, O94030, P0C1D2, P0CM68, P0CM69, P34415, P56394, P81045, Q12287, Q14061, Q16LW2, Q2KHZ4, Q2USJ2, Q4P8D2, Q4R3D4, Q4WES5, Q54ID0, Q59PR9, Q5BJN5, Q5TXN1, Q63ZK1, Q6DEI8, Q6J3Q7, Q6NU12, Q6PBC3, Q717R8, Q757A5, Q7PF80, Q7S3S2, Q86BW2

Diamond homologs: P56394, P81045, Q14061, Q54ID0, Q6J3Q7, Q94FT1, Q9LJQ9, Q9P7Z7, Q12287

SIGNOR signaling

0 interactions.

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

10 variants total. Per-class counts are floors (≥ shown; pagination cap):

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic0
Uncertain significance9
Likely benign0
Benign0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

1171 predictions. Top by Δscore:

VariantEffectΔscore
3:119659928:CTTAC:Cdonor_loss1.0000
3:119659929:TTA:Tdonor_loss1.0000
3:119659930:TAC:Tdonor_loss1.0000
3:119659931:A:ATdonor_loss1.0000
3:119659931:ACCGG:Adonor_gain1.0000
3:119659932:C:CTdonor_loss1.0000
3:119659932:CCGGC:Cdonor_gain1.0000
3:119660731:T:TAdonor_gain1.0000
3:119675139:GCTTA:Gdonor_loss1.0000
3:119675140:CTTAC:Cdonor_loss1.0000
3:119675141:TTA:Tdonor_loss1.0000
3:119675142:TACCA:Tdonor_loss1.0000
3:119675143:A:AGdonor_loss1.0000
3:119675229:TGATA:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
3:119675230:GATA:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
3:119675232:TA:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
3:119675233:AC:Aacceptor_loss1.0000
3:119675234:C:CCacceptor_gain1.0000
3:119659931:A:ACdonor_gain0.9900
3:119659932:C:CCdonor_gain0.9900
3:119659932:CCGG:Cdonor_gain0.9900
3:119660693:G:Cdonor_gain0.9900
3:119660708:T:Adonor_gain0.9900
3:119660709:C:CAdonor_gain0.9900
3:119675138:AGCTT:Adonor_loss0.9900
3:119675231:ATA:Aacceptor_gain0.9900
3:119676856:A:Cdonor_gain0.9900
3:119677198:A:ACdonor_gain0.9900
3:119677199:C:CCdonor_gain0.9900
3:119660732:C:Adonor_gain0.9800

AlphaMissense

407 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

VariantProtein changeam_pathogenicity
3:119677214:G:TR33S1.000
3:119677221:C:AK30N1.000
3:119677221:C:GK30N1.000
3:119675158:A:CF61L0.999
3:119675158:A:TF61L0.999
3:119675159:A:GF61S0.999
3:119675160:A:GF61L0.999
3:119675162:C:TG60E0.999
3:119675174:A:GM56T0.999
3:119675187:G:CH52D0.999
3:119675207:C:AC45F0.999
3:119675207:C:TC45Y0.999
3:119677210:T:AD34V0.999
3:119677211:C:GD34H0.999
3:119677214:G:AR33C0.999
3:119677235:A:GC26R0.999
3:119677240:C:TC24Y0.999
3:119677241:A:GC24R0.999
3:119677244:A:GC23R0.999
3:119675162:C:AG60V0.998
3:119675163:C:GG60R0.998
3:119675163:C:TG60R0.998
3:119675177:C:GC55S0.998
3:119675178:A:GC55R0.998
3:119675178:A:TC55S0.998
3:119675187:G:TH52N0.998
3:119675206:A:CC45W0.998
3:119675207:C:GC45S0.998
3:119675208:A:GC45R0.998
3:119675208:A:TC45S0.998

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000189096 (3:119674172 C>T), RS1000262514 (3:119667761 G>A), RS1000444989 (3:119674061 C>A,T), RS1001170133 (3:119664373 C>T), RS1001309176 (3:119673480 A>C,G), RS1001372683 (3:119663953 GAAAA>G,GAAAAA), RS1001404745 (3:119670739 T>C), RS1001532863 (3:119668716 G>A), RS1002199209 (3:119668467 A>G), RS1002329006 (3:119673313 C>T), RS1002375334 (3:119669360 G>A), RS1002580923 (3:119678230 A>G), RS1002814942 (3:119669021 TAA>T), RS1002840493 (3:119665681 A>C), RS1002993785 (3:119675700 C>A,T)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:604813 | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (0):

Orphanet (0):

HPO phenotypes

0 total (0 of 0 shown, HPO-id order):

GWAS associations

2 associations (top):

StudyTraitp-value
GCST011624_5Tau burden3.000000e-07
GCST011624_6Tau burden3.000000e-07

EFO canonical traits (1, from GWAS)

EFO IDTrait name
EFO:0004760t-tau measurement

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

PharmGKB: 1 entry (VIP=true, CPIC=false)

CTD chemical–gene interactions

51 total (human), top 30 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
sodium arsenitedecreases expression, increases abundance, increases expression, affects cotreatment4
potassium chromate(VI)affects cotreatment, decreases expression2
Benzo(a)pyreneaffects cotreatment, increases expression, affects methylation, decreases reaction2
Copperaffects transport, affects localization2
Doxorubicinaffects response to substance, increases expression2
dicrotophosdecreases expression1
propionaldehydeincreases methylation1
bisphenol Adecreases expression1
lead acetateincreases expression1
nonanalincreases methylation1
n-hexanalincreases methylation1
4-(N-methyl-N-nitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanoneincreases expression, decreases reaction, affects cotreatment1
zinc chloridedecreases expression1
butyraldehydeincreases methylation1
tetrathiomolybdatedecreases expression1
caprylic aldehydeincreases methylation1
tetraethylenepentaminedecreases expression1
beta-methylcholineaffects expression1
epigallocatechin gallatedecreases expression, affects cotreatment1
pentanalincreases methylation1
heptanalincreases methylation1
chromium hexavalent iondecreases expression1
cuprous sulfideincreases expression1
chloropicrinincreases expression1
K 7174decreases expression1
2-(1H-indazol-4-yl)-6-(4-methanesulfonylpiperazin-1-ylmethyl)-4-morpholin-4-ylthieno(3,2-d)pyrimidinedecreases expression, increases response to substance1
Oxaliplatinaffects response to substance1
Sunitinibincreases expression1
Zoledronic Aciddecreases expression1
Acetaminophenincreases expression1

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

0 trials via MONDO — disease-level, not drug-specific.

No linked Atlas pages yet — the cross-entity mesh grows as the corpus expands.