KCNJ16

Chr 17AR

potassium inwardly rectifying channel subfamily J member 16

Also known as: BIR9, HKTD, KIR5.1

NCBI Gene: 3773 ENSG00000153822 UniProt: Q9NPI9

Potassium channels are present in most mammalian cells, where they participate in a wide range of physiologic responses. The protein encoded by this gene is an integral membrane protein and inward-rectifier type potassium channel. The encoded protein, which tends to allow potassium to flow into rather than out of a cell, can form heterodimers with two other inward-rectifier type potassium channels. It may function in fluid and pH balance regulation. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Apr 2014]

Primary Disease Associations & Inheritance

Hypokalemic tubulopathy and deafnessMIM #619406

Active trials

Pathogenic / LP

ClinVar variants

Pubs (1 yr)

-0.0

Missense Z

1.67

LOEUF

Clinical Summary— KCNJ16

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Gene-Disease Validity (ClinGen)

hypokalemic alkalosis, familial, with specific renal tubulopathy · ARDefinitive

Definitive — sufficient evidence for diagnostic panels

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Population Constraint (gnomAD)

Low constraint (pLI 0.00) — loss-of-function variants are relatively tolerated in the population.

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ClinVar Variants

26 Pathogenic / Likely Pathogenic· 14 VUS of 59 total submissions

Population Genetics & Constraint

gnomAD v4 — loss-of-function & missense intolerance

gnomAD

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.

1.67LOEUF

pLI 0.000

Z-score -0.41

OE 1.12 (0.76–1.67)

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.

-0.00Z-score

OE missense 1.00 (0.90–1.11)

238 obs / 237.9 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.1.12 (0.76–1.67)

0≤0.351.4

Missense OE?Ratio of observed to expected missense variants. OE ≤ 0.6 = fewer missense variants than expected by chance.1.00 (0.90–1.11)

0≤0.61.4

Synonymous OE?Control metric — synonymous variants are largely neutral and expected near OE = 1.0. Significant deviation may indicate annotation issues.1.02

0≤1.21.6

LoF obs/exp: 16 / 14.3Missense obs/exp: 238 / 237.9Syn Z: -0.12

0.7230th %ile

GOF

0.83top 10%

LOF

0.3162th %ile

This gene has evidence for multiple mechanisms of pathogenicity (gain-of-function and dominant-negative). Both the Badonyi & Marsh prediction and the broader genomic evidence point to gain-of-function as the predominant mechanism. Different variants in this gene may act through different mechanisms — interpret in context of the specific variant.

GOFprediction above median

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.