Send feedback

POLD2

gene
On this page

Summary

POLD2 (DNA polymerase delta 2, accessory subunit, HGNC:9176) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 7p13, encoding DNA polymerase delta subunit 2 (P49005). Accessory component of both the DNA polymerase delta complex and the DNA polymerase zeta complex. It is a common-essential gene (DepMap: required in 97.7% of cancer cell lines).

This gene encodes the 50-kDa catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase delta. DNA polymerase delta possesses both polymerase and 3’ to 5’ exonuclease activity and plays a critical role in DNA replication and repair. The encoded protein is required for the stimulation of DNA polymerase delta activity by the processivity cofactor proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Expression of this gene may be a marker for ovarian carcinomas. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding multiple isoforms have been observed for this gene, and a pseudogene of this gene is located on the long arm of chromosome 5.

Source: NCBI Gene 5425 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • Gene–disease (curated): non-severe combined immunodeficiency due to polymerase delta deficiency (Moderate, GenCC)
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 401 total (top 8% of genes corpus-wide)
  • Regional missense constraint (gnomAD): 1 of 3 regions constrained (≈6% of expected missense variation)
  • GTEx eGene: eQTL in 47 tissues, sQTL in 46 (q < 0.05)
  • Cancer dependency (DepMap): dependent in 97.7% of screened cell lines (common-essential)
  • Constraint (gnomAD): pLI 0.00 (LoF-tolerant), LOEUF 0.93 (unconstrained)
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_006230
  • Notable: 401 clinical variants but no curated precision-oncology (CIViC) evidence yet

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:9176
Approved symbolPOLD2
NameDNA polymerase delta 2, accessory subunit
Location7p13
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
Ensembl geneENSG00000106628
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM600815
Entrez5425

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 151 — 77 protein_coding, 38 retained_intron, 34 nonsense_mediated_decay, 2 protein_coding_CDS_not_defined

MANE Select: ENST00000610533

Transcript support level (Ensembl TSL; 1 = fully mRNA-supported): TSL 1: 2, TSL 2: 6, TSL 3: 6, TSL 4: 1, TSL 5: 3

ENST00000610533, ENST00000223361, ENST00000406581, ENST00000418438, ENST00000433715, ENST00000436400, ENST00000436844, ENST00000452185, ENST00000456038, ENST00000461116, ENST00000463464, ENST00000464871, ENST00000467469, ENST00000470867, ENST00000481104, ENST00000481763, ENST00000489883, ENST00000496539, ENST00000698945, ENST00000698946, ENST00000698947, ENST00000698948, ENST00000698949, ENST00000698950, ENST00000698951, ENST00000698952, ENST00000698953, ENST00000698954, ENST00000698955, ENST00000698956, ENST00000698957, ENST00000698958, ENST00000698959, ENST00000698960, ENST00000698961, ENST00000698962, ENST00000698963, ENST00000698964, ENST00000698965, ENST00000698966, ENST00000698967, ENST00000698968, ENST00000698969, ENST00000698970, ENST00000698971, ENST00000698972, ENST00000698973, ENST00000698974, ENST00000698975, ENST00000698976, ENST00000698977, ENST00000698978, ENST00000698979, ENST00000698980, ENST00000698981, ENST00000698982, ENST00000698983, ENST00000698984, ENST00000698985, ENST00000698986, ENST00000698987, ENST00000698988, ENST00000698989, ENST00000698990, ENST00000698991, ENST00000698992, ENST00000698993, ENST00000698994, ENST00000881299, ENST00000881300, ENST00000881301, ENST00000881302, ENST00000881303, ENST00000881304, ENST00000881305, ENST00000881306, ENST00000881307, ENST00000881308, ENST00000881309, ENST00000881310, ENST00000881311, ENST00000881312, ENST00000881313, ENST00000881314, ENST00000881315, ENST00000881316, ENST00000881317, ENST00000881318, ENST00000881319, ENST00000881320, ENST00000881321, ENST00000881322, ENST00000881323, ENST00000931682, ENST00000931683, ENST00000931684, ENST00000931685, ENST00000931686, ENST00000931687, ENST00000931688, ENST00000964228, ENST00000964229, ENST00000964230, ENST00000964231, ENST00000964232, ENST00000964233, ENST00000964234, ENST00000964235, ENST00000964236, ENST00000964237, ENST00000964238, ENST00001001123, ENST00001001124, ENST00001001126, ENST00001001128, ENST00001001130, ENST00001001131, ENST00001001132, ENST00001001133, ENST00001001134, ENST00001022268, ENST00001022269, ENST00001022270, ENST00001022273, ENST00001022274, ENST00001022275, ENST00001022276, ENST00001063687, ENST00001063688, ENST00001063689, ENST00001063690, ENST00001063691, ENST00001063692, ENST00001063693, ENST00001063694, ENST00001063695, ENST00001101575, ENST00001101576, ENST00001101577, ENST00001101578, ENST00001101579, ENST00001101580, ENST00001101581, ENST00001101582, ENST00001101583, ENST00001101584, ENST00001101585, ENST00001101586, ENST00001101587, ENST00001110802, ENST00001141271

RefSeq mRNA: 3 — MANE Select: NM_006230 NM_001127218, NM_001256879, NM_006230

CCDS: CCDS5477

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000610533 — 11 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE000006807694411643044116510
ENSE000006807724411681744117015
ENSE000006807744411713344117247
ENSE000017618844411611544116272
ENSE000035576824412183444122109
ENSE000037278434412351144123548
ENSE000037307864411468044114945
ENSE000039752914411576644115893
ENSE000039753084411529544115396
ENSE000039753164411761944117742
ENSE000039753384411794344118064

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 296 present calls, max score 97.31.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth ubiquitous, TPM avg 20.4872 / max 130.8352, expressed in 1777 samples.

Highest expression (Bgee): uterine tube, apex of heart, ventricular zone, lobe of liver, lower esophagus mucosa.

Genetic regulation across tissues (GTEx eQTL / sQTL)

POLD2 is an eGene in GTEx v10 — its expression is genetically regulated (eQTL) in 47 tissues and its splicing (sQTL) in 46 (q < 0.05). Strongest associations first; slope = normalized effect of the lead variant’s alternative allele.

showing 20 of 93 significant tissue × QTL associations:

TissueQTLq-valueSlopeLead variant
Cells Cultured fibroblastssqtl1.1e-50-0.937:44122210:A:G
Esophagus Mucosasqtl9.7e-34-0.857:44122210:A:G
Nerve Tibialeqtl3.4e-31-1.107:44112387:G:A
Skin Sun Exposed Lower legeqtl1.1e-28-0.907:44112387:G:A
Skin Sun Exposed Lower legsqtl2.1e-28-0.757:44118226:T:C
Muscle Skeletalsqtl7.3e-28-0.617:44122210:A:G
Esophagus Muscularissqtl1.2e-27-0.807:44129790:G:C
Thyroideqtl1.3e-27-1.117:44112387:G:A
Brain Frontal Cortex BA9eqtl1.4e-27-1.647:44112387:G:A
Thyroidsqtl2.9e-27-0.727:44122210:A:G
Skin Not Sun Exposed Suprapubiceqtl2.7e-26-1.017:44112387:G:A
Cells Cultured fibroblastseqtl5.0e-26-0.707:44112387:G:A
Muscle Skeletaleqtl1.1e-25-1.167:44112387:G:A
Artery Tibialsqtl1.9e-24-0.717:44129790:G:C
Nerve Tibialsqtl2.4e-24-0.757:44122210:A:G
Skin Not Sun Exposed Suprapubicsqtl3.1e-23-0.727:44112950:G:A
Lungeqtl3.9e-23-0.847:44112387:G:A
Esophagus Musculariseqtl4.1e-22-1.367:44112387:G:A
Cells EBV-transformed lymphocyteseqtl6.7e-22-0.937:44112387:G:A
Cells EBV-transformed lymphocytessqtl3.4e-21-0.887:44129790:G:C

FANTOM5 promoters

2 alternative TSS:

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
8384719.64251775
838450.8447565

Top tissues by expression

showing 100 of 301 tissues by Bgee expression score (0-100, higher = more expressed):

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
right uterine tubeUBERON:000130297.31gold quality
apex of heartUBERON:000209897.22gold quality
ventricular zoneUBERON:000305397.20gold quality
right lobe of liverUBERON:000111496.95gold quality
lower esophagus mucosaUBERON:003583496.88gold quality
right atrium auricular regionUBERON:000663196.82gold quality
body of pancreasUBERON:000115096.80gold quality
left ovaryUBERON:000211996.79gold quality
right hemisphere of cerebellumUBERON:001489096.67gold quality
esophagus mucosaUBERON:000246996.57gold quality
skin of abdomenUBERON:000141696.52gold quality
hindlimb stylopod muscleUBERON:000425296.51gold quality
ganglionic eminenceUBERON:000402396.49gold quality
ectocervixUBERON:001224996.48gold quality
esophagogastric junction muscularis propriaUBERON:003584196.47gold quality
adenohypophysisUBERON:000219696.43gold quality
left uterine tubeUBERON:000130396.41gold quality
gastrocnemiusUBERON:000138896.41gold quality
skin of legUBERON:000151196.41gold quality
right ovaryUBERON:000211896.36gold quality
esophagusUBERON:000104396.32gold quality
cerebellar hemisphereUBERON:000224596.30gold quality
cerebellar cortexUBERON:000212996.20gold quality
tibial nerveUBERON:000132396.18gold quality
popliteal arteryUBERON:000225096.14gold quality
lower esophagusUBERON:001347396.14gold quality
cardiac atriumUBERON:000208196.13gold quality
tibial arteryUBERON:000761096.13gold quality
lower esophagus muscularis layerUBERON:003583396.13gold quality
heart left ventricleUBERON:000208496.06gold quality
muscle of legUBERON:000138395.96gold quality
endocervixUBERON:000045895.89gold quality
mucosa of transverse colonUBERON:000499195.89gold quality
body of uterusUBERON:000985395.89gold quality
cardiac ventricleUBERON:000208295.80gold quality
left coronary arteryUBERON:000162695.79gold quality
pituitary glandUBERON:000000795.72gold quality
stromal cell of endometriumCL:000225595.71gold quality
right adrenal gland cortexUBERON:003582795.61gold quality
right testisUBERON:000453495.59gold quality
aortaUBERON:000094795.52gold quality
heartUBERON:000094895.48gold quality
body of stomachUBERON:000116195.47gold quality
right adrenal glandUBERON:000123395.47gold quality
left testisUBERON:000453395.46gold quality
cortical plateUBERON:000534395.37gold quality
coronary arteryUBERON:000162195.34gold quality
right lobe of thyroid glandUBERON:000111995.33gold quality
pancreasUBERON:000126495.29gold quality
left adrenal glandUBERON:000123495.21gold quality
left adrenal gland cortexUBERON:003582595.18gold quality
metanephros cortexUBERON:001053395.15gold quality
left lobe of thyroid glandUBERON:000112095.04gold quality
ascending aortaUBERON:000149694.93gold quality
omental fat padUBERON:001041494.86gold quality
thoracic aortaUBERON:000151594.84gold quality
peritoneumUBERON:000235894.84gold quality
embryoUBERON:000092294.83gold quality
cerebellumUBERON:000203794.81gold quality
mucosa of stomachUBERON:000119994.78gold quality
minor salivary glandUBERON:000183094.67gold quality
adrenal cortexUBERON:000123594.65gold quality
thyroid glandUBERON:000204694.65gold quality
muscle organUBERON:000163094.64gold quality
skeletal muscle organUBERON:001489294.64gold quality
ovaryUBERON:000099294.58gold quality
right frontal lobeUBERON:000281094.54gold quality
right coronary arteryUBERON:000162594.51gold quality
olfactory segment of nasal mucosaUBERON:000538694.51gold quality
adrenal glandUBERON:000236994.50gold quality
muscle layer of sigmoid colonUBERON:003580594.50gold quality
upper lobe of left lungUBERON:000895294.45gold quality
zone of skinUBERON:000001494.41gold quality
adipose tissue of abdominal regionUBERON:000780894.39gold quality
C1 segment of cervical spinal cordUBERON:000646994.34gold quality
testisUBERON:000047394.31gold quality
liverUBERON:000210794.27gold quality
stomachUBERON:000094594.23gold quality
amygdalaUBERON:000187694.22gold quality
islet of LangerhansUBERON:000000694.20gold quality
mouth mucosaUBERON:000372994.18gold quality
nucleus accumbensUBERON:000188294.17gold quality
saliva-secreting glandUBERON:000104494.12gold quality
skeletal muscle tissue of rectus abdominisUBERON:000451194.00gold quality
transverse colonUBERON:000115793.92gold quality
vaginaUBERON:000099693.84gold quality
prostate glandUBERON:000236793.78gold quality
descending thoracic aortaUBERON:000234593.54gold quality
upper lobe of lungUBERON:000894893.53gold quality
prefrontal cortexUBERON:000045193.51gold quality
putamenUBERON:000187493.48gold quality
caudate nucleusUBERON:000187393.39gold quality
smooth muscle tissueUBERON:000113593.33gold quality
right lungUBERON:000216793.19gold quality
Brodmann (1909) area 9UBERON:001354093.11gold quality
spinal cordUBERON:000224093.10gold quality
spleenUBERON:000210693.08gold quality
rectumUBERON:000105293.04gold quality
cingulate cortexUBERON:000302793.00gold quality
small intestine Peyer’s patchUBERON:000345492.92gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 4 experiment(s), a significant marker in 4.

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-GEOD-125970yes21.87
E-HCAD-10yes17.83
E-MTAB-8271yes6.56
E-ANND-3no0.00

HPA expression

RNA tissue specificity: Low tissue specificity

showing 60 of 80 HPA tissues / cells by nTPM:

Tissue / cellAxisnTPMProtein (IHC)
Skeletal muscletissue80.6not detected
Heart muscletissue74.7not detected
Tonguetissue69.0
Livertissue62.7not detected
Pancreastissue61.0low
Fallopian tubetissue60.4high
Parathyroid glandtissue54.9low
Vaginatissue52.8high
Pituitary glandtissue50.8
Choroid plexustissue47.7
Ovarytissue46.1high
Esophagustissue44.3high
Salivary glandtissue40.1not detected
Thymustissue39.9
Adrenal glandtissue37.4medium
Bone marrowtissue36.5high
Skin 1tissue33.6high
Hippocampustissue33.5not detected
Nucleus accumbenstissue33.3
Adipose tissuetissue31.5not detected
Locus coeruleustissue30.6
Colontissue30.0high
Lymph nodetissue29.2high
Stomach 1tissue28.2high
Thyroid glandtissue28.2medium
Cervixtissue28.1high
Prostatetissue28.1not detected
Breasttissue27.9low
Tonsiltissue27.9high
Appendixtissue27.2high
Postcentral gyrustissue26.8
Smooth muscletissue25.7low
Duodenumtissue25.6high
Kidneytissue25.4high
Urinary bladdertissue25.1high
Seminal vesicletissue24.8low
Testistissue24.3high
Rectumtissue24.3high
Placentatissue23.0high
Endometrium 1tissue22.6medium
Small intestinetissue22.2high
Lungtissue19.3high
Spleentissue19.1low
Retinatissue15.5
Gallbladdertissue15.3medium
Caudate putamentissue14.8
Hippocampal formationtissue13.2
Frontal cortextissue12.3
Spinal cordtissue12.0
Epididymistissue11.5low
Cerebral cortextissue11.2low
Somatosensory cortextissue11.2
Basal gangliatissue11.1not detected
Cerebellumtissue10.6low
Occipital cortextissue10.1
Motor cortextissue9.5
Prefrontal cortextissue9.4
Putamentissue9.4
Corpus callosumtissue9.4
Entorhinal cortextissue9.3

Brain sub-regions (HPA Brain Atlas): detected in 191; highest nTPM — Posterior thalamic nucleus (59.5), Blood vessel (56.3), Medial dorsal thalamic nucleus (50.2), Medial geniculate body (47.9), Anterior thalamic nucleus, ventral (46.3).

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

Upstream regulators (CollecTRI, top): CREB1, E2F4, JUN, MYC, NFIC, SP1, TFAP2A, TP53, TP63, TP73

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

Targeting POLD2 by miRDB confidence (max_score; target_count = how many genes the miRNA targets in total — lower means more specific).

1 miRNAs:

miRNAMax scoreAvg scoremiRNA target_count
HSA-MIR-3934-3P99.7665.511351

Functional genomics

gnomAD constraint: pLI 4.53e-08, LOEUF 0.93, missense Z 2.51 — population loss-of-function intolerance (pLI ≥ 0.9 = LoF-intolerant; lower LOEUF = more constrained). gnomAD

Regional missense constraint (gnomAD)

ENST00000610533 splits into 3 regions with different missense tolerance; 1 is missense-constrained (≈6% of the expected missense variation). Missense variants in a constrained region (low observed/expected) are more likely to be pathogenic. gnomAD

Region (GRCh38)Missense obs / expo/eConstrained
7:44,114,788–44,115,82298 / 138.60.71no
7:44,115,823–44,116,1248 / 34.10.23yes (p 7.9e-06)
7:44,116,125–44,122,053349 / 437.40.80no
DepMap (CRISPR cell-line fitness): dependent in 97.7% of screened cell lines, common-essential.

Most-dependent cell lines (DepMap gene-effect, lower = stronger; ≤ −0.5 shown): MFE-280 (-2.071), HCC38 (-2.026), PA-TU-8988T (-2.006), KP-N-YN (-1.908), KP-N-SI9s (-1.808), LS1034 (-1.771), SK-N-FI (-1.724), S-117 (-1.717), 59M (-1.687), Caov-4 (-1.638), SNU-1033 (-1.603), SNU-5 (-1.562), HSC-4 (-1.555), PSN1 (-1.546), JM1 (-1.499).

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 14)

  • the interaction of PCNA with DNA polymerase delta is mediated through the small subunit of the enzyme (PMID:11986310)
  • The association of PDIP38 with pol delta was shown to occur in calf thymus tissue and mammalian cell extracts by GST-PDIP38 pull-down and coimmunoprecipitation experiments. (PMID:12522211)
  • As a first step towards understanding the functional importance of their regulatory subunit interactions, the three-dimensional structure of the p50-p66 heterodimer of human Pol delta has been solved using X-ray crystallography. (PMID:18765914)
  • the crystal structure of p50*p66(N) complex featuring oligonucleotide binding and phosphodiesterase domains in p50 (PMID:18818516)
  • Results suggest that POLD2 and KSP37 might be potential prognostic biomarkers. (PMID:21079801)
  • DNA polymerase delta catalytic subunit p125 induced by mutant type p53 is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma invasion. (PMID:21372597)
  • The results show that the FF483-484 amino acids in the human Poleta (designated F1 motif) are necessary for the interaction of this polymerase with POLD2, the B subunit of the replicative DNA polymerase delta, both in vitro and in vivo. (PMID:25662213)
  • Inhibition of DNA polymerases a, delra and e by AFP promoter-driven artificial microRNAs may lead to effective growth arrest of AFP-positive HCC cells,as novel strategy for gene therapy (PMID:25924900)
  • The proofreading activity of DNA polymerase delta plays a role in shunting DNA mismatch repair to an EXO1-dependent excision pathway as opposed to directly participating in gap formation via its 3’-5’ exonuclease activity. (PMID:28934474)
  • The role in cellular processes (DNA replication, DNA repair, homologous recombination) and cell cycle regulation of 2 forms of human DNA polymerase delta: delta3 and delta4 was reviewed. (REVIEW) (PMID:31326365)
  • In patients from 2 independent pedigrees, we have identified what we believe to be a novel syndrome with reduced functionality of the polymerase delta complex caused by germline biallelic mutations in POLD1 or POLD2 as the underlying etiology of a previously unknown autosomal-recessive syndrome that combines replicative stress, neurodevelopmental abnormalities, and immunodeficiency. (PMID:31449058)
  • ShRNA-based POLD2 expression knockdown sensitizes glioblastoma to DNA-Damaging therapeutics. (PMID:31954770)
  • Polymerase delta promotes chromosomal rearrangements and imprecise double-strand break repair. (PMID:33077594)
  • Exome sequencing reveals novel rare variants in Iranian familial multiple sclerosis: The importance of POLD2 in the disease pathogenesis. (PMID:34116171)

Cross-species orthologs

5 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
danio_reriopold2ENSDARG00000095046
mus_musculusPold2ENSMUSG00000020471
rattus_norvegicusPold2ENSRNOG00000014098
drosophila_melanogasterPolD2FBGN0027903
caenorhabditis_elegansWBGENE00008722

Mouse-model phenotypes

Observed phenotypes of the mouse ortholog (MGI:1097163) from MGI (Alliance of Genome Resources) — knockout/mutant phenotypes, ranked by annotation count. 7 distinct phenotype terms.

Mouse phenotype (MP)Records
failure of blastocyst to hatch from the zona pellucida2
embryonic lethality before implantation, complete penetrance2
failure of embryo implantation1
empty decidua capsularis1
preweaning lethality, complete penetrance1
abnormal sleep behavior1
embryonic lethality prior to organogenesis1

Additional cross-species homologs

Sequence homologs in species beyond Ensembl Compara’s model organisms, by Diamond local protein alignment (% sequence identity; best hit per species). Lower-identity rows are more distant homologs. The matched accessions’ gene symbols aren’t in biobtree yet, so each row shows the UniProt accession.

OrganismUniProtIdentityMethod
Bos taurusP4900495.5%Diamond
Arabidopsis thalianaO4852071.8%Diamond
Oryza sativa Japonica GroupQ9LRE571.8%Diamond
Xenopus laevisO9361070.9%Diamond
Schizosaccharomyces pombe 972h-P8732434.7%Diamond
Saccharomyces cerevisiae S288CP4695732.7%Diamond

Genomic neighbors (locus context)

Genes flanking this one on the chromosome (NCBI/Entrez gene neighborhood). Positional context only — some neighbors share regulatory elements (bidirectional promoters, antisense/overlapping transcripts), but chromosomal adjacency is not itself a functional relationship (see Interactions for that).

SymbolTypeEntrez
MIR6838ncRNA102465504
AEBP1protein-coding165
POLMprotein-coding27434
DBNLprotein-coding28988
PGAM2protein-coding5224
MIR4649ncRNA100616346
GCKprotein-coding2645
MYL7protein-coding58498
MIR6837ncRNA102466985

Protein

Protein identifiers

DNA polymerase delta subunit 2 — P49005 (reviewed: P49005)

Alternative names: DNA polymerase delta subunit p50

All UniProt accessions (16): A0A087WWF6, A0A8V8TMJ0, A0A8V8TMJ5, A0A8V8TMK0, A0A8V8TMZ6, A0A8V8TN02, A0A8V8TN07, A0A8V8TNY7, A0A8V8TPA1, A0A8V8TPA6, P49005, A0A8V8TPB6, C9IZD2, C9JHC7, C9JLE1, H7C1B3

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Accessory component of both the DNA polymerase delta complex and the DNA polymerase zeta complex. As a component of the trimeric and tetrameric DNA polymerase delta complexes (Pol-delta3 and Pol-delta4, respectively), plays a role in high fidelity genome replication, including in lagging strand synthesis, and repair. Pol-delta3 and Pol-delta4 are characterized by the absence or the presence of POLD4. They exhibit differences in catalytic activity. Most notably, Pol-delta3 shows higher proofreading activity than Pol-delta4. Although both Pol-delta3 and Pol-delta4 process Okazaki fragments in vitro, Pol-delta3 may also be better suited to fulfill this task, exhibiting near-absence of strand displacement activity compared to Pol-delta4 and stalling on encounter with the 5’-blocking oligonucleotides. Pol-delta3 idling process may avoid the formation of a gap, while maintaining a nick that can be readily ligated. Along with DNA polymerase kappa, DNA polymerase delta carries out approximately half of nucleotide excision repair (NER) synthesis following UV irradiation. Under conditions of DNA replication stress, required for the repair of broken replication forks through break-induced replication (BIR). Involved in the translesion synthesis (TLS) of templates carrying O6-methylguanine or abasic sites performed by Pol-delta4, independently of DNA polymerase zeta (REV3L) or eta (POLH). Facilitates abasic site bypass by DNA polymerase delta by promoting extension from the nucleotide inserted opposite the lesion. Also involved in TLS as a component of the DNA polymerase zeta complex. Along with POLD3, dramatically increases the efficiency and processivity of DNA synthesis of the DNA polymerase zeta complex compared to the minimal zeta complex, consisting of only REV3L and REV7.

Subunit / interactions. Component of both the DNA polymerase delta and DNA polymerase zeta complexes. Component of the tetrameric DNA polymerase delta complex (Pol-delta4), which consists of POLD1/p125, POLD2/p50, POLD3/p66/p68 and POLD4/p12, with POLD1 bearing DNA polymerase and 3’ to 5’ proofreading exonuclease activities. Within Pol-delta4, directly interacts with POLD1, POLD3 and POLD4. Following stress caused by DNA damaging agents or by replication stress, POLD4 is degraded and Pol-delta4 is converted into a trimeric form of the complex (Pol-delta3), which consists of POLD1, POLD2 and POLD3. Pol-delta3 is the major form occurring at S phase replication sites, as well as DNA damage sites. Also observed as a dimeric complex with POLD2 (Pol-delta2 complex). Pol-delta2 is relatively insensitive to the PCNA stimulation (2-5-fold) compared to Pol-delta4 that is stimulated by over 50-fold. Contrary to the other components of Pol-delta4, does not directly interact with PCNA. As POLD1 and POLD4, directly interacts with WRNIP1; this interaction stimulates DNA polymerase delta-mediated DNA synthesis, independently of the presence of PCNA. This stimulation may be due predominantly to an increase of initiation frequency and also to increased processivity. Directly interacts with POLDIP2 and POLDIP3. Directly interacts with KCTD13/PDIP1; in the presence of PCNA, this interaction may stimulate DNA polymerase activity. Component of the tetrameric Pol-zeta complex (Pol-zeta4), which consists of REV3L, MAD2L2, POLD2 and POLD3, with REV3L bearing DNA polymerase catalytic activity. Interacts with KCTD10.

Subcellular location. Nucleus.

Similarity. Belongs to the DNA polymerase delta/II small subunit family.

RefSeq proteins (3): NP_001120690, NP_001243808, NP_006221* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR007185DNA_pol_a/d/e_bsuDomain
IPR024826DNA_pol_delta/II_ssuFamily
IPR040663DNA_pol_D_NDomain
IPR041863PolD2_CDomain

Pfam: PF04042, PF18018

UniProt features (51 total): strand 22, helix 15, turn 4, modified residue 3, mutagenesis site 3, sequence variant 2, chain 1, sequence conflict 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

7 structures by resolution:

PDBTitleMethodResolution (Å)
3E0JX-ray structure of the complex of regulatory subunits of human DNA polymerase deltaX-RAY DIFFRACTION3
6TNYProcessive human polymerase delta holoenzymeELECTRON MICROSCOPY3.08
9EKBCryo-EM structure of apo-form human DNA polymerase deltaELECTRON MICROSCOPY3.65
6TNZHuman polymerase delta-FEN1-PCNA toolbeltELECTRON MICROSCOPY4.05
6S1MHuman polymerase delta holoenzyme Conformer 1ELECTRON MICROSCOPY4.27
6S1NHuman polymerase delta holoenzyme Conformer 2ELECTRON MICROSCOPY4.86
6S1OHuman polymerase delta holoenzyme Conformer 3ELECTRON MICROSCOPY8.1

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-P49005-F189.420.75

Human Protein Atlas

Protein class: Metabolic proteins, Predicted intracellular proteins, Plasma proteins, Essential proteins

Protein evidence: Evidence at protein level

Subcellular location (HPA, imaging): nucleoplasm

Antibody reliability (HPA): IH approved · IF enhanced

Functional residue map

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

Post-translational modifications (3)

TypePositions
N-acetylmethionine1
Phosphoserine15, 257

Mutagenesis-validated functional residues (3)

PositionPhenotype
217loss of pold3-binding in a yeast two-hybrid assay.
224loss of pold3-binding in a yeast two-hybrid assay.
231loss of pold3-binding in a yeast two-hybrid assay.

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

18 curated (TAS) of 43; 0 disease pathways. Curated-first; evidence = TAS (manually curated) vs IEA (electronic inference).

43 pathways:

IDPathwayEvidence
R-HSA-5696400Dual Incision in GG-NERcurated
R-HSA-6782135Dual incision in TC-NERcurated
R-HSA-5696397Gap-filling DNA repair synthesis and ligation in GG-NERcurated
R-HSA-6782210Gap-filling DNA repair synthesis and ligation in TC-NERcurated
R-HSA-5685942HDR through Homologous Recombination (HRR)curated
R-HSA-5358606Mismatch repair (MMR) directed by MSH2:MSH3 (MutSbeta)curated
R-HSA-5358565Mismatch repair (MMR) directed by MSH2:MSH6 (MutSalpha)curated
R-HSA-5651801PCNA-Dependent Long Patch Base Excision Repaircurated
R-HSA-69091Polymerase switchingcurated
R-HSA-174411Polymerase switching on the C-strand of the telomerecurated
R-HSA-174414Processive synthesis on the C-strand of the telomerecurated
R-HSA-69183Processive synthesis on the lagging strandcurated
R-HSA-110314Recognition of DNA damage by PCNA-containing replication complexcurated
R-HSA-69166Removal of the Flap Intermediatecurated
R-HSA-174437Removal of the Flap Intermediate from the C-strandcurated
R-HSA-9968295Somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin genes by error-prone mismatch repair (MMR)curated
R-HSA-174417Telomere C-strand (Lagging Strand) Synthesiscurated
R-HSA-5656169Termination of translesion DNA synthesiscurated
R-HSA-73884Base Excision Repair—
R-HSA-1640170Cell Cycle—
R-HSA-69278Cell Cycle, Mitotic—
R-HSA-73886Chromosome Maintenance—
R-HSA-73893DNA Damage Bypass—
R-HSA-5693532DNA Double-Strand Break Repair—
R-HSA-73894DNA Repair—
R-HSA-69306DNA Replication—
R-HSA-69190DNA strand elongation—
R-HSA-180786Extension of Telomeres—
R-HSA-5696399Global Genome Nucleotide Excision Repair (GG-NER)—
R-HSA-5693567HDR through Homologous Recombination (HRR) or Single Strand Annealing (SSA)—
R-HSA-5693538Homology Directed Repair—
R-HSA-69186Lagging Strand Synthesis—
R-HSA-69109Leading Strand Synthesis—
R-HSA-5358508Mismatch Repair—
R-HSA-5696398Nucleotide Excision Repair—
R-HSA-110373Resolution of AP sites via the multiple-nucleotide patch replacement pathway—
R-HSA-73933Resolution of Abasic Sites (AP sites)—
R-HSA-69242S Phase—
R-HSA-9968297Somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin genes by error-prone base excision repair (BER)electronic
R-HSA-69239Synthesis of DNA—
R-HSA-157579Telomere Maintenance—
R-HSA-6781827Transcription-Coupled Nucleotide Excision Repair (TC-NER)—
R-HSA-110313Translesion synthesis by Y family DNA polymerases bypasses lesions on DNA template—

MSigDB gene sets: 270 (showing top): REACTOME_DNA_REPLICATION, MODULE_52, RODRIGUES_THYROID_CARCINOMA_POORLY_DIFFERENTIATED_UP, GOBP_DNA_STRAND_ELONGATION_INVOLVED_IN_DNA_REPLICATION, GRAESSMANN_APOPTOSIS_BY_DOXORUBICIN_DN, GRAESSMANN_RESPONSE_TO_MC_AND_DOXORUBICIN_DN, GOBP_DNA_DAMAGE_TOLERANCE, MODULE_16, KAUFFMANN_DNA_REPAIR_GENES, KEGG_HOMOLOGOUS_RECOMBINATION, MODULE_118, GOCC_NUCLEAR_REPLICATION_FORK, MUELLER_PLURINET, CREIGHTON_ENDOCRINE_THERAPY_RESISTANCE_1, KEGG_MISMATCH_REPAIR

GO Biological Process (8): DNA replication (GO:0006260), DNA-templated DNA replication (GO:0006261), DNA strand elongation involved in DNA replication (GO:0006271), DNA repair (GO:0006281), error-prone translesion synthesis (GO:0042276), DNA biosynthetic process (GO:0071897), DNA metabolic process (GO:0006259), DNA damage response (GO:0006974)

GO Molecular Function (2): DNA binding (GO:0003677), protein binding (GO:0005515)

GO Cellular Component (4): nucleus (GO:0005634), nucleoplasm (GO:0005654), zeta DNA polymerase complex (GO:0016035), delta DNA polymerase complex (GO:0043625)

Reactome top-level categories

14 top-level categories:

CategoryPathways
DNA Damage Bypass2
Telomere C-strand (Lagging Strand) Synthesis2
Mismatch Repair2
Global Genome Nucleotide Excision Repair (GG-NER)2
Transcription-Coupled Nucleotide Excision Repair (TC-NER)2
Lagging Strand Synthesis2
Somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin genes2
Extension of Telomeres1
Processive synthesis on the C-strand of the telomere1
Resolution of AP sites via the multiple-nucleotide patch replacement pathway1
Translesion synthesis by Y family DNA polymerases bypasses lesions on DNA template1
HDR through Homologous Recombination (HRR) or Single Strand Annealing (SSA)1
Leading Strand Synthesis1
Processive synthesis on the lagging strand1

GO top-level categories

19 GO namespaces:

CategoryTerms
DNA metabolic process3
DNA replication2
DNA polymerase complex2
DNA biosynthetic process1
DNA-templated DNA replication1
DNA strand elongation1
DNA synthesis involved in DNA replication1
DNA damage response1
translesion synthesis1
nucleic acid biosynthetic process1
nucleic acid metabolic process1
cellular response to stress1
nucleic acid binding1
binding1
intracellular membrane-bounded organelle1
nuclear lumen1
cellular anatomical structure1
nuclear replisome1
nuclear protein-containing complex1

Experimentally-supported GO annotations

GO terms backed by direct experimental evidence (ECO experimental codes) — 6 of 14 annotations. The rest are phylogenetic / computational / electronic (IEA).

6 experimentally-supported GO terms:

GO termNSEvidence
DNA biosynthetic processBPdirect assay
DNA-templated DNA replicationBPdirect assay
error-prone translesion synthesisBPdirect assay
delta DNA polymerase complexCCdirect assay
nucleoplasmCCdirect assay
zeta DNA polymerase complexCCdirect assay

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

showing 15 of 1,381 interactions by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
POLD2POLD3Q15054973
POLD2POLD1P28340966
POLD2PCNAP12004900
POLD2POLD4Q9HCU8862
POLD2POLDIP2Q9Y2S7779
POLD2REV3LO60673772
POLD2KCTD10Q9H3F6765
POLD2MAD2L2Q9UI95737
POLD2POLE2P56282718
POLD2KCTD13Q8WZ19718
POLD2REV1Q9UBZ9697
POLD2POLA2Q14181690
POLD2EXO1Q9UQ84690
POLD2FEN1P39748682
POLD2TNFAIP1Q13829670

IntAct

Human interaction partners of POLD2 in IntAct, one row per partner (best MIscore; records = supporting IntAct interaction records).

15 partners by confidence:

PartnerInteraction typeMIscoreRecords
POLD1association0.91013
POLD3direct interaction0.8905
POLD4physical association0.7903
PCNAphysical association0.6802
REV3Lassociation0.5302
WRNIP1physical association0.5001
CCHCR1physical association0.3701
EP300physical association0.3701
ERBB2physical association0.3701
SOX12physical association0.3701
TSG101physical association0.3701
NUGGCassociation0.3501
OFCC1association0.3501
P4HA2association0.3501
LSM6physical association0.0001

BioGRID (117 interactions; top human partners by supporting records): POLD1 (Co-fractionation; 8 records), PCNA (Affinity Capture-Western; 7 records), POLD3 (Affinity Capture-MS; 5 records), MAD2L2 (Affinity Capture-Western; 4 records), POLD4 (Affinity Capture-MS; 4 records), AMZ1 (Affinity Capture-MS; 2 records), DKKL1 (Affinity Capture-MS; 2 records), ERP44 (Affinity Capture-MS; 2 records), MMS19 (Co-fractionation; 2 records), PARK2 (Affinity Capture-MS; 2 records), POLA2 (Co-fractionation; 2 records), POLH (Two-hybrid; 2 records), PPP5C (Affinity Capture-MS; 2 records), REV3L (Affinity Capture-MS; 2 records), SPRTN (Affinity Capture-MS; 2 records)

SIGNOR signaling

1 signaling interactions:

AEffectBMechanism
POLD2“form complex”“DNA polymerase delta”binding

Protein complexes (CORUM) (9)

Experimentally-characterized complexes this protein is a subunit of (★ = the complex contains a known drug target).

9 complexes by size:

ComplexSubunitsMembers
★ RC complex, S-phase-specific23POLD4, POLE2, POLE4, CCNA2, CDK2, POLD2, POLD3, RFC2, POLE, RFC1, RFC5, RPA3, LIG1, PARP1, POLA1, POLD1, RFC3, RPA2, POLA2, POLE3, RFC4, RPA1, TOP1
★ DNA synthesome complex, breast cancer MCF7 cells23POLA2, POLD3, POLE4, PRIM1, RFC1, RPA1, PCNA, POLD4, POLE2, POLE3, RFC4, TOP1, POLA1, RFC2, RFC3, RFC5, RPA2, RPA3, TOP2A, POLD1, POLD2, POLE, PRIM2
★ DNA synthesome complex, breast cancer cells20POLD3, POLE4, RFC2, RFC3, POLA2, POLE3, LIG1, PARP1, PCNA, POLD2, PRIM1, PRIM2, RFC1, RFC4, POLD4, POLE, POLE2, RFC5, POLA1, POLD1
★ RC complex, G2/M-phase-specific19CCNB1, POLA1, POLA2, POLD2, RPA1, RPA2, CDK1, POLD3, RFC1, RFC2, RPA3, POLD1, POLD4, POLE, POLE3, PARP1, POLE2, POLE4, TOP1
★ DNA synthesome complex, leukemia cells19PCNA, POLD1, RFC5, TOP2A, POLD4, PRIM1, PRIM2, RFC2, RPA2, TOP1, POLD2, POLD3, RPA1, POLA1, POLA2, RFC1, RFC3, RFC4, RPA3
★ DNA synthesome core complex14PCNA, POLA2, POLD1, POLD2, POLD3, POLD4, PRIM2, RFC1, POLA1, PRIM1, RFC2, RFC3, RFC4, RFC5
DNA polymerase zeta4MAD2L2, POLD2, POLD3, REV3L
★ DNA polymerase delta4POLD1, POLD2, POLD3, POLD4
★ DNA polymerase delta, trimeric form3POLD1, POLD2, POLD3

Enriched among interaction partners

Reactome pathways and GO biological processes over-represented among this gene’s 15 IntAct physical interaction partners (hypergeometric vs the genome-wide background, BH-FDR, gene-set size 15–500, ranked by fold). A functional readout of the neighbourhood — distinct from this gene’s own memberships above, and biased toward well-studied / hub proteins, so read it as themes rather than proof.

GO biological processes:

GO termPartnersFoldFDR
DNA synthesis involved in DNA repair5360.1×2e-10
DNA-templated DNA replication5216.1×1e-09

Disease & clinical

Genetic variants

Variant evidence for POLD2: 401 ClinVar records (0 pathogenic / likely pathogenic).

ClinVar

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

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic0
Uncertain significance217
Likely benign143
Benign12

SpliceAI

Top 10 splice-impact sites by Δscore (adjacent positions with the same effect merged into one range; 36 predictions of 1,052):

Position(s)EffectΔscoreSites
7:44115764–44115765donor_loss1.00003
7:44116435donor_gain1.0000
7:44116511–44116512acceptor_loss1.00003
7:44116815–44116816donor_loss1.00004
7:44117016–44117017acceptor_loss1.00004
7:44118065–44118066acceptor_loss1.00002
7:44121832–44121833donor_loss1.00004
7:44114946–44114947acceptor_loss0.99004
7:44115293–44115294donor_loss0.99005
7:44115397–44115398acceptor_loss0.99006

AlphaMissense

1,111 missense substitutions predicted likely pathogenic (of 3,260 scored), across 299 residues. Top 20 hotspot residues, ranked by the number of likely-pathogenic substitutions (of those reachable by a single-nucleotide change), then by mean score:

ResidueLikely-pathogenic substitutionsMean am_pathogenicityMax am_pathogenicity
D30080.9900.997
D22080.9870.997
D28080.9780.998
D39180.9720.990
F43180.9530.996
F45280.9460.994
D13780.9410.986
D29380.9410.980
D38080.9190.971
D13180.9130.974
F39380.8970.969
H31280.8920.989
F40380.8630.991
F17180.8490.988
F31680.7360.989
N33070.9790.998
F4670.9670.994
F3970.9600.978
F270.9450.983
E13670.9370.975

HPA cancer prognostics

RNA cancer specificity: Low cancer specificity

Human Protein Atlas survival analysis — favorable = higher expression predicts better survival.

6 prognostic cancer types:

CancerPrognosticp-value
Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma (TCGA)unfavorable8.75e-06
Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma (validation)unfavorable1.15e-05
Lung Adenocarcinoma (TCGA)unfavorable2.14e-05
Kidney Chromophobe (TCGA)unfavorable5.59e-05
Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (TCGA)unfavorable0.00019
Lung Adenocarcinoma (validation)unfavorable0.000708

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:600815 | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

1 curated gene-disease records:

DiseaseClassificationInheritanceRecords
non-severe combined immunodeficiency due to polymerase delta deficiencyModerateAutosomal recessive

ClinGen Gene-Disease Validity

Expert-panel classifications — Definitive > Strong > Moderate > Limited > Disputed > Refuted.

1 validity classifications:

DiseaseClassificationInheritance
non-severe combined immunodeficiency due to polymerase delta deficiencyLimitedAR

Genomics England panels (PanelApp)

Clinical diagnostic gene panels including this gene (1 panels, 1 green/diagnostic-grade). Confidence: green = diagnostic, amber = moderate.

1 panels:

PanelRating
COVID-19 researchgreen

Mondo (1): non-severe combined immunodeficiency due to polymerase delta deficiency (MONDO:0800145)

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: yes

ChEMBL targets (2): CHEMBL2363042 (PROTEIN FAMILY), CHEMBL2763 (SINGLE PROTEIN)

PharmGKB: 1 entry (CPIC guideline: no)

CTD chemical–gene interactions

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

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
sodium arsenitedecreases expression, increases expression2
cobaltous chloridedecreases expression2
Hydrogen Peroxideaffects cotreatment, decreases reaction, increases expression2
aristolochic acid Idecreases expression1
TAK-243increases sumoylation1
bisphenol Adecreases expression1
2,2’-methylenebis(4-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol)affects expression, affects response to substance1
sodium arsenatedecreases expression1
benzo(e)pyreneincreases methylation1
2,3-bis(3’-hydroxybenzyl)butyrolactoneaffects cotreatment, increases expression1
di-n-butylphosphoric acidaffects expression1
K 7174decreases expression1
4-(5-benzo(1,3)dioxol-5-yl-4-pyridin-2-yl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)benzamideaffects cotreatment, increases expression1
chromium histidinatedecreases reaction, increases expression1
LDN 193189affects cotreatment, increases expression1
Resveratrolaffects cotreatment, increases expression1
Benzo(a)pyreneincreases methylation1
Coumestrolaffects cotreatment, increases expression1
Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethyleneincreases expression1
Estradiolincreases expression1
Guanineaffects binding, decreases activity1
Ivermectindecreases expression1
Mercuryaffects expression1
Methapyrileneincreases methylation1
Oxygendecreases expression1
Quercetindecreases expression1
Quinic Acidaffects cotreatment, increases expression1
Rotenonedecreases expression1
Smokedecreases expression1
Thiramdecreases expression1

ChEMBL screening assays

6 unique, capped per target: 6 binding

Representative assays (with source publication via chembl_document):

Assay IDTypeDescriptionSource paper
CHEMBL5697345BindingInhibition of POLD2 (unknown origin) assessed as fold change at 10 uM incubated for 1 hr by colloidal coomassie staining based LC-MS/MS analysisInhibition of BET recruitment to chromatin as an effective treatment for MLL-fusion leukaemia. — *Nature*

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

Via MONDO — disease-level, not drug-specific.