Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 10, 2026

POLR3B

RNA polymerase III subunit B is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the POLR3B gene. It is the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase III. Subunit B is part of the catalytic center of the RNA polymerase III complex.

Last revised
Jul 10, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
428 w
Citations
14
Source
POLR3B
Identifiers
AliasesPOLR3B, C128, HLD8, INMAP, RPC2, polymerase (RNA) III subunit B, RNA polymerase III subunit B, CMT1I
External IDsOMIM: 614366; MGI: 1917678; HomoloGene: 6981; GeneCards: POLR3B; OMA:POLR3B - orthologs
Orthologs
SpeciesHumanMouse
Entrez
Ensembl
UniProt
RefSeq (mRNA)

NM_018082
NM_001160708

NM_027423

RefSeq (protein)

NP_001154180
NP_060552

NP_081699

Location (UCSC)Chr 12: 106.36 – 106.51 MbChr 10: 84.46 – 84.56 Mb
PubMed search34
Wikidata
View/Edit HumanView/Edit Mouse

RNA polymerase III subunit B is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the POLR3B gene. It is the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase III.5 Subunit B is part of the catalytic center of the RNA polymerase III complex.6

Gene

The POLR3B gene is located on the long arm (q) of chromosome 12 on position 23.3, from base pair from base pair 106,357,748 to base pair 106,510,198.7

Function

RNA polymerase III is an essential enzyme complex responsible for synthesizing small non-coding RNAs, including transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and 5S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and these small RNAs play a critical role in the process of protein synthesis within cells.8

Clinical significance

Mutations in POLR3B are associated with certain genetic disorders, such as 4H leukodystrophy and Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease type 1I.89

References

References

  1. GRCh38: Ensembl release 89: ENSG00000013503Ensembl, May 2017
  2. GRCm38: Ensembl release 89: ENSMUSG00000034453Ensembl, May 2017
  3. "Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  4. "Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  5. "POLYMERASE III, RNA, SUBUNIT B; POLR3B". omim.org.
  6. Watt KE, Macintosh J, Bernard G, Trainor PA (February 2023). "RNA Polymerases I and III in development and disease". Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology. 136: 49–63. doi:10.1016/j.semcdb.2022.03.027. PMC 9550887. PMID 35422389.
  7. "POLR3B RNA polymerase III subunit B [Homo sapiens (human)] - Gene - NCBI". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  8. "POLR3B gene: MedlinePlus Genetics". MedlinePlus. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  9. Lata E, Choquet K, Sagliocco F, Brais B, Bernard G, Teichmann M (2021). "RNA Polymerase III Subunit Mutations in Genetic Diseases". Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences. 8 696438. doi:10.3389/fmolb.2021.696438. PMC 8362101. PMID 34395528.