RELA

Chr 11AD

RELA proto-oncogene, NF-kB subunit

NCBI Gene: 5970 ENSG00000173039 UniProt: Q04206

NF-kappa-B is a pleiotropic transcription factor present in almost all cell types and is the endpoint of a series of signal transduction events that are initiated by a vast array of stimuli related to many biological processes such as inflammation, immunity, differentiation, cell growth, tumorigenesis and apoptosis. NF-kappa-B is a homo- or heterodimeric complex formed by the Rel-like domain-containing proteins RELA/p65, RELB, NFKB1/p105, NFKB1/p50, REL and NFKB2/p52. The heterodimeric RELA-NFKB1 complex appears to be most abundant one. The dimers bind at kappa-B sites in the DNA of their target genes and the individual dimers have distinct preferences for different kappa-B sites that they can bind with distinguishable affinity and specificity. Different dimer combinations act as transcriptional activators or repressors, respectively. The NF-kappa-B heterodimeric RELA-NFKB1 and RELA-REL complexes, for instance, function as transcriptional activators. NF-kappa-B is controlled by various mechanisms of post-translational modification and subcellular compartmentalization as well as by interactions with other cofactors or corepressors. NF-kappa-B complexes are held in the cytoplasm in an inactive state complexed with members of the NF-kappa-B inhibitor (I-kappa-B) family. In a conventional activation pathway, I-kappa-B is phosphorylated by I-kappa-B kinases (IKKs) in response to different activators, subsequently degraded thus liberating the active NF-kappa-B complex which translocates to the nucleus. The inhibitory effect of I-kappa-B on NF-kappa-B through retention in the cytoplasm is exerted primarily through the interaction with RELA. RELA shows a weak DNA-binding site which could contribute directly to DNA binding in the NF-kappa-B complex. Besides its activity as a direct transcriptional activator, it is also able to modulate promoters accessibility to transcription factors and thereby indirectly regulate gene expression. Associates with chromatin at the NF-kappa-B promoter region via association with DDX1. Essential for cytokine gene expression in T-cells (PubMed:15790681). The NF-kappa-B homodimeric RELA-RELA complex appears to be involved in invasin-mediated activation of IL-8 expression. Key transcription factor regulating the IFN response during SARS-CoV-2 infection (PubMed:33440148)

Primary Disease Associations & Inheritance

Autoinflammatory disease, familial, Behcet-like-3MIM #618287

529

ClinVar variants

Pathogenic / LP

1.00

pLI score· haploinsufficient

Active trials

Clinical Summary— RELA

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Gene-Disease Validity (ClinGen)

combined immunodeficiency due to RELA haploinsufficiency · ADDefinitive

Definitive — sufficient evidence for diagnostic panels

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Population Constraint (gnomAD)

Highly constrained gene — heterozygous loss-of-function variants are very rare in the population (pLI 1.00). One damaged copy is likely sufficient to cause disease.

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ClinVar Variants

53 Pathogenic / Likely Pathogenic· 235 VUS of 529 total submissions

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Clinical Trials

1 active or recruiting trial — potential therapeutic options may be available

Population Genetics & Constraint

gnomAD v4 — loss-of-function & missense intolerance

gnomAD

LoF intolerant — likely haploinsufficient

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.

0.18LOEUF

pLI 0.999

Z-score 4.56

OE 0.04 (0.01–0.18)

Highly constrained

Highly LoF-intolerant (top ~10% of genes)

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.

2.45Z-score

OE missense 0.62 (0.56–0.70)

208 obs / 333.9 exp

Mild constraint

Moderately missense-constrained (top ~2.5%)

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.0.04 (0.01–0.18)

0≤0.351.4

Missense OE?Ratio of observed to expected missense variants. OE ≤ 0.6 = fewer missense variants than expected by chance.0.62 (0.56–0.70)

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.1.09

0≤1.21.6

LoF obs/exp: 1 / 26.2Missense obs/exp: 208 / 333.9Syn Z: -0.83