# POT1

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/pot1/  
OnCo record `pot1` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

POT1 (Protection of telomeres protein 1) is a gene that drives cell growth when it is altered. The public catalogues list it as an oncogene driver, a tumour suppressor and a biomarker, and clinical evidence ties its variants to diagnosis, prognosis or drug response. Tied to Leukaemia, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Lung cancer and 5 more.

## Summary

Component of the telomerase ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex that is essential for the replication of chromosome termini. Is a component of the double-stranded telomeric DNA-binding TRF1 complex which is involved in the regulation of telomere length by cis-inhibition of telomerase. Also acts as a single-stranded telomeric DNA-binding protein and thus may act as a downstream effector of the TRF1 complex and may transduce information about telomere maintenance and/or length to the telomere terminus.

CIViC holds 1 clinical evidence item and 0 assertions across 1 variant. Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.79 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes genetic literature 0.61, literature 0.89, genetic association 0.70, somatic mutation 0.87, animal model 0.27). IntOGen calls it a driver in 9 cohorts (5 activating, 4 loss-of-function), covering Angiosarcoma, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma, Low-Grade Glioma, NOS, Melanoma, Soft Tissue.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: protection of telomeres 1; Protection of telomeres protein 1; hPot1; DKFZp586D211
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: POT1
- Class: oncogene
- Biology: Component of the telomerase ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex that is essential for the replication of chromosome termini. Is a component of the double-stranded telomeric DNA-binding TRF1 complex which is involved in the regulation of telomere length by cis-inhibition of telomerase. Also acts as a single-stranded telomeric DNA-binding protein and thus may act as a downstream effector of the TRF1 complex and may transduce information about telomere maintenance and/or length to the telomere terminus. Component of the shelterin complex (telosome) that is involved in the regulation of telomere length and protection. Shelterin associates with arrays of double-stranded TTAGGG repeats added by telomerase and protects chromosome ends; without its protective activity, telomeres are no longer hidden from the DNA damage surveillance and chromosome ends are inappropriately processed by DNA repair pathways. Binds to two or more telomeric single-stranded 5'-TTAGGG-3' repeats (G-strand) and with high specificity to a minimal telomeric single-stranded 5'-TAGGGTTAG-3' sequence. Location: Nucleus; Chromosome, telomere (UniProt). Locus 7q31.33 (HGNC).
- Where found: Leukaemia: Open Targets association 0.70 with leukaemia (MONDO_0005059); Non-Hodgkin lymphoma: Open Targets association 0.68 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (MONDO_0018908); Lung cancer: Open Targets association 0.62 with lung cancer (MONDO_0008903); Skin cancer: Open Targets association 0.59 with skin cancer (MONDO_0002898); Sarcomas: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (SOFT_TISSUE); Breast cancer: Open Targets association 0.51 with breast cancer (MONDO_0007254)

## 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: IntOGen calls it an activating (Act) driver in 5 cohorts; IntOGen calls it a loss-of-function (LoF) driver in 4 cohorts; CIViC holds 1 clinical evidence items on its variants. Evidence tier "clinical-evidence" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.
- Diseases the sources name that have no OnCo cancer page yet, so they are not linked: Low-Grade Glioma, NOS.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:17284: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:17284
- UniProt Q9NUX5: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q9NUX5/entry
- NCBI Gene 25913: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/25913
- Ensembl ENSG00000128513: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000128513

## Connected records

- collections: [CIViC](https://onco.cc/collections/civic/), [IntOGen](https://onco.cc/collections/intogen/), [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)
- cancers: [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/), [Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/cll/), [Leukaemia (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/leukaemia/), [Lung cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/lung-cancer/), [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/), [Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/sarcoma/), [Skin cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/skin-cancer/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/pot1.json