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Genetics Library / Genes / SDHAF2

GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:26034

SDHAF2

succinate dehydrogenase complex assembly factor 2

protein-coding gene11q12.2Gene information

What does this gene do?

The SDHAF2 gene provides instructions for making a protein that interacts with the succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) enzyme. The SDHAF2 protein helps a molecule called FAD attach to the SDH enzyme. FAD is called a cofactor because it helps the enzyme carry out its function. The FAD cofactor is required for SDH enzyme activity.

The SDH enzyme plays a critical role in mitochondria, which are structures inside cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use. Within mitochondria, the SDH enzyme links two important pathways in energy conversion: the citric acid cycle (or Krebs cycle) and oxidative phosphorylation. As part of the citric acid cycle, the SDH enzyme converts a compound called succinate to another compound called fumarate.

Succinate, the compound on which the SDH enzyme acts, is an oxygen sensor in the cell and can help turn on specific pathways that stimulate cells to grow in a low-oxygen environment (hypoxia). In particular, succinate stabilizes a protein called hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) by preventing a reaction that would allow HIF to be broken down. HIF controls several important genes involved in cell division and the formation of new blood vessels in a hypoxic environment.

The SDHAF2 gene is a tumor suppressor, which means it prevents cells from growing and dividing in an uncontrolled way.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2020-08-18. Source review: 2011-06.

Related condition topics

MedlinePlus mentions this gene in the condition pages below. These links alone do not show that the gene causes a condition.

ClinGen reviews

ClinGen reviews the evidence linking a particular gene to a condition. Each rating below describes the strength of that link. It does not classify a variant in your DNA file.

ConditionInheritanceEvidence
hereditary pheochromocytoma-paragangliomaMONDO:0017366 · Evaluated 2021-06-17Autosomal dominantDefinitiveHereditary Cancer Gene Curation Expert Panel

ClinVar records

These numbers show what has been submitted to ClinVar. They cannot tell you how likely you are to have a condition.

Submitted alleles
781
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene
1,551
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene
1,528
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic
54
VariationIDs with uncertain significance
425
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications
52

The rows count different things: alleles, submissions or VariationIDs. Their categories can overlap, so do not add them together. Pathogenic/likely pathogenic counts exclude structural variants that merely overlap a gene. A dash in the source means “not reported,” not zero.

NCBI produces the gene-summary file each week using counts recorded at the start of the month. The numbers may differ from those on the live ClinVar website. Read the field definitions ↗

View this gene in ClinVar ↗

YOUR DNA FILE

Can your DNA file tell you about SDHAF2?

From a DNA test kit (such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA or MyHeritage). These kits check a fixed list of about 600,000 to 700,000 positions across your whole genome. ClinVar lists 54 alleles in SDHAF2 reported as pathogenic or likely pathogenic. A kit checks only some of these positions, and often none of them.

From whole genome sequencing (a VCF file). Sequencing reads most of your genome. Your file lists the places where your DNA differs from the reference genome. Some regions are hard to sequence, including parts of some genes that have near-identical copies elsewhere, and a VCF file does not record which positions were read well.

If a variant is not in your file, that does not mean you don’t have it.

What BioDecode checks

BioDecode compares every variant in your file with ClinVar, on your own computer. For each match, it shows the ClinVar classification, the review status and the condition it was reported for. Your file is not uploaded.

A ClinVar classification applies to one particular variant and the condition it was reported for. It does not tell you about other variants in SDHAF2.

BioDecode cannot fill gaps in your test, diagnose a condition or replace clinical testing.

Sources and dates

The source information on this page last changed on 2026-10-17.

HGNC Source details

Open source record ↗

Source release: Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:36:12 GMT
Source record updated: 2023-01-20

SHA-256: 72bfe0c05800163c040a2cf663c70501f9ac9236469fbd0b552f2cd37a4d7f67

MedlinePlus Source details

Open source record ↗

Source release: Sat, 17 Oct 2026 05:15:49 GMT
Source publication: 2020-08-18
Source review: 2011-06

SHA-256: fdc8bd614310c12718379cef6569962e5d0e791cecabcc355b53a72816ac263a

ClinVar Source details

Open source record ↗

Source release: Sun, 11 Oct 2026 06:36:01 GMT

SHA-256: b21584f8ebc89a636ce9706023fa9052460587e2ab0fe6d0edf4b9db34336c02

ClinGen Source details

Open source record ↗

Source release: Sat, 17 Oct 2026 07:46:29 GMT

SHA-256: 46d4c75fcae7dd62a9dea4988bbbd440bdc68f2db452fea1556d47b0406de60e

About the library sources · Latest validated release · Record ada404baa8cb