# MT-CO1

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/mt-co1/  
OnCo record `mt-co1` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

MT-CO1 (Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) is a gene. In the public catalogues the evidence so far is association rather than a proven role. Tied to Myelodysplastic syndromes / neoplasms and Colorectal cancer.

## Summary

Component of the cytochrome c oxidase, the last enzyme in the mitochondrial electron transport chain which drives oxidative phosphorylation. The respiratory chain contains 3 multisubunit complexes succinate dehydrogenase (complex II, CII), ubiquinol-cytochrome c oxidoreductase (cytochrome b-c1 complex, complex III, CIII) and cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV, CIV), that cooperate to transfer electrons derived from NADH and succinate to molecular oxygen, creating an electrochemical gradient over the inner membrane that drives transmembrane transport and the ATP synthase. Cytochrome c oxidase is the component of the respiratory chain that catalyses the reduction of oxygen to water.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.50 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.38, genetic association 0.74, genetic literature 0.30).

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: mitochondrially encoded cytochrome c oxidase I; Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1; COX1; MTCO1
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: MT-CO1
- Class: other
- Biology: Component of the cytochrome c oxidase, the last enzyme in the mitochondrial electron transport chain which drives oxidative phosphorylation. The respiratory chain contains 3 multisubunit complexes succinate dehydrogenase (complex II, CII), ubiquinol-cytochrome c oxidoreductase (cytochrome b-c1 complex, complex III, CIII) and cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV, CIV), that cooperate to transfer electrons derived from NADH and succinate to molecular oxygen, creating an electrochemical gradient over the inner membrane that drives transmembrane transport and the ATP synthase. Cytochrome c oxidase is the component of the respiratory chain that catalyses the reduction of oxygen to water. Electrons originating from reduced cytochrome c in the intermembrane space (IMS) are transferred via the dinuclear copper A centre (CU(A)) of subunit 2 and heme A of subunit 1 to the active site in subunit 1, a binuclear centre (BNC) formed by heme A3 and copper B (CU(B)). The BNC reduces molecular oxygen to 2 water molecules using 4 electrons from cytochrome c in the IMS and 4 protons from the mitochondrial matrix. Location: Mitochondrion inner membrane (UniProt). Locus mitochondria (HGNC).
- Where found: Myelodysplastic syndromes / neoplasms: Open Targets association 0.64 with myelodysplastic syndrome (MONDO_0018881); Colorectal cancer: Open Targets association 0.50 with colorectal cancer (MONDO_0005575)

## Notes

- Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: none stated by the sources. Evidence tier "association-only" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:7419: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:7419
- UniProt P00395: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P00395/entry
- NCBI Gene 4512: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/4512
- Ensembl ENSG00000198804: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000198804

## Connected records

- collections: [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)
- cancers: [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/), [Myelodysplastic syndromes / neoplasms (MDS)](https://onco.cc/cancers/mds/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/mt-co1.json