# PCNA

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

## TL;DR

PCNA (DNA sliding clamp PCNA) is a gene. The public catalogues list it as a biomarker and a DNA repair gene, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response. Tied to Neuroblastoma.

## Summary

Confers DNA tethering and processivity to DNA polymerases and other proteins. Auxiliary protein of DNA polymerase delta and epsilon, is involved in the control of DNA replication by increasing the polymerases' processivity during elongation of the leading strand. Induces a robust stimulatory effect on the 3'-5' exonuclease and 3'-phosphodiesterase, but not apurinic-apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease, APEX2 activities.

CIViC holds 1 clinical evidence item and 0 assertions across 1 variant.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: proliferating cell nuclear antigen; DNA sliding clamp PCNA
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: PCNA
- Class: other
- Biology: Confers DNA tethering and processivity to DNA polymerases and other proteins. Auxiliary protein of DNA polymerase delta and epsilon, is involved in the control of DNA replication by increasing the polymerases' processivity during elongation of the leading strand. Induces a robust stimulatory effect on the 3'-5' exonuclease and 3'-phosphodiesterase, but not apurinic-apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease, APEX2 activities. Has to be loaded onto DNA in order to be able to stimulate APEX2. Plays a key role in DNA damage response (DDR) by being conveniently positioned at the replication fork to coordinate DNA replication with DNA repair and DNA damage tolerance pathways. Acts as a loading platform to recruit DDR proteins that allow completion of DNA replication after DNA damage and promote postreplication repair: monoubiquitinated PCNA leads to recruitment of translesion (TLS) polymerases, while 'Lys-63'-linked polyubiquitination of PCNA is involved in error-free pathway and employs recombination mechanisms to synthesise across the lesion. Location: Nucleus (UniProt). Locus 20p12.3 (HGNC).
- Where found: Neuroblastoma: CIViC evidence names this disease

## 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: CIViC holds 1 clinical evidence items on its variants; UniProt keyword "DNA repair". Evidence tier "clinical-evidence" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:8729: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:8729
- UniProt P12004: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P12004/entry
- NCBI Gene 5111: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/5111
- Ensembl ENSG00000132646: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000132646

## Connected records

- collections: [CIViC](https://onco.cc/collections/civic/)
- cancers: [Neuroblastoma (paediatric)](https://onco.cc/cancers/neuroblastoma/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/pcna.json