GALNS

Chr 16AR

galactosamine (N-acetyl)-6-sulfatase

Also known as: GALNAC6S, GAS, GalN6S, MPS4A

This gene encodes N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfatase which is a lysosomal exohydrolase required for the degradation of the glycosaminoglycans, keratan sulfate, and chondroitin 6-sulfate. Sequence alterations including point, missense and nonsense mutations, as well as those that affect splicing, result in a deficiency of this enzyme. Deficiencies of this enzyme lead to Morquio A syndrome, a lysosomal storage disorder. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]

Primary Disease Associations & Inheritance

Mucopolysaccharidosis IVAMIM #253000
AR
0
Active trials
179
Pathogenic / LP
696
ClinVar variants
5
Pubs (1 yr)
-0.4
Missense Z
1.01
LOEUF
Clinical SummaryGALNS
🧬
Gene-Disease Validity (ClinGen)
mucopolysaccharidosis type 4A · ARDefinitive

Definitive — sufficient evidence for diagnostic panels

Population Constraint (gnomAD)
Low constraint (pLI 0.00) — loss-of-function variants are relatively tolerated in the population.
📋
ClinVar Variants
179 Pathogenic / Likely Pathogenic· 203 VUS of 696 total submissions
📖
GeneReview available — GALNS
Authoritative clinical overview · Recommended first read
Open GeneReview ↗

Population Genetics & Constraint

gnomAD v4 — loss-of-function & missense intolerance

Tolerant — LoF & missense variants common in population
LoF Constraint?LOEUF (Loss-of-function Observed/Expected Upper bound Fraction) is the upper bound of the 90% CI for LoF OE — the preferred gnomAD v4 metric. Lower = more intolerant to LoF. LOEUF < 0.35 = highly constrained.
1.01LOEUF
pLI 0.000
Z-score 1.51
OE 0.69 (0.481.01)
Tolerant

Highly tolerant — LoF variants common in population

Missense Constraint?Missense Z-score: standard deviations fewer missense variants observed vs. expected. Z > 3.09 (p < 0.001) = gene does not tolerate missense variation. OE missense < 0.6 is also considered constrained.
-0.43Z-score
OE missense 1.07 (0.981.17)
324 obs / 302.7 exp
Tolerant

Tolerant to missense variation

Observed / Expected Ratios?Shaded band = 90% confidence interval. Vertical tick = point estimate. Grey threshold line = gnomAD constraint cutoff for that variant class.
LoF OE?Ratio of observed to expected LoF variants. Upper CI bound (LOEUF) ≤ 0.35 = strong LoF constraint signal.0.69 (0.481.01)
00.351.4
Missense OE?Ratio of observed to expected missense variants. OE ≤ 0.6 = fewer missense variants than expected by chance.1.07 (0.981.17)
00.61.4
Synonymous OE?Control metric — synonymous variants are largely neutral and expected near OE = 1.0. Significant deviation may indicate annotation issues.1.32
01.21.6
LoF obs/exp: 19 / 27.5Missense obs/exp: 324 / 302.7Syn Z: -2.90
DN
0.6649th %ile
GOF
0.6150th %ile
LOF
0.2777th %ile

The highest-scoring mechanism for this gene is dominant-negative.

DNprediction above median

Note: In-silico variant effect predictors (SIFT, PolyPhen, REVEL, CADD) may underestimate pathogenicity of missense variants in genes with GOF or DN mechanisms. Consider functional evidence and clinical context.

Predictions from Badonyi M, Marsh JA. PLoS ONE. 2024;19(8):e0307312.

ClinVar Variant Classifications

696 submitted variants in ClinVar

Classification Summary

Pathogenic69
Likely Pathogenic110
VUS203
Likely Benign197
Benign23
Conflicting94
69
Pathogenic
110
Likely Pathogenic
203
VUS
197
Likely Benign
23
Benign
94
Conflicting

Curated Variants Distribution

Classified variants from ClinVar · 5 ACMG categories

ClassificationLoFMissense + InframeNon-codingSynonymousTotal
Pathogenic
31
2
36
0
69
Likely Pathogenic
45
42
23
0
110
VUS
3
163
37
0
203
Likely Benign
0
0
79
118
197
Benign
0
0
23
0
23
Conflicting
94
Total79207198118696

LoF = frameshift, stop gained/lost, canonical splice · Counts from ClinVar esearch · Updated hourly

View in ClinVar →

Protein Context — Lollipop Plot

GALNS · protein map & ClinVar variants

Showing all ClinVar variants across the protein. Search a specific variant to highlight its position.

Gene2Phenotype Curations

GALNS-related mucopolysaccharidosis

definitive
ARLoss Of FunctionAbsent Gene Product
Dev. DisordersSkeletal
G2P ↗

Gene2Phenotype curations · DECIPHER consortium patient cohort (public variants) · deciphergenomics.org

Clinical Trials

Active and recruiting trials from ClinicalTrials.gov

No active trials found for this gene.

Search ClinicalTrials.gov →
Clinical Literature
Landmark / reviewRecent case evidence