WHRN

Chr 9AR

whirlin

Also known as: CIP98, DFNB31, PDZD7B, USH2D, WI

NCBI Gene: 25861 ENSG00000095397 UniProt: Q9P202

This gene is thought to function in the organization and stabilization of sterocilia elongation and actin cystoskeletal assembly, based on studies of the related mouse gene. Mutations in this gene have been associated with autosomal recessive non-syndromic deafness and Usher Syndrome. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2016]

Primary Disease Associations & Inheritance

Deafness, autosomal recessive 31MIM #607084

Usher syndrome, type 2DMIM #611383

UniProtUsher syndrome 2D

Active trials

Pathogenic / LP

291

ClinVar variants

Pubs (1 yr)

-0.3

Missense Z

0.67

LOEUF

Clinical Summary— WHRN

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Gene-Disease Validity (ClinGen)

Usher syndrome type 2D · ARDefinitive

Definitive — sufficient evidence for diagnostic panels

2 total gene-disease associations curated

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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

30 Pathogenic / Likely Pathogenic· 115 VUS of 291 total submissions

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GeneReview available — WHRN

Authoritative clinical overview · Recommended first read

Open GeneReview ↗

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.

0.67LOEUF

pLI 0.000

Z-score 2.94

OE 0.41 (0.26–0.67)

Tolerant

Typical tolerance to LoF variation

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.

-0.32Z-score

OE missense 1.04 (0.97–1.11)

580 obs / 558.4 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.0.41 (0.26–0.67)

0≤0.351.4

Missense OE?Ratio of observed to expected missense variants. OE ≤ 0.6 = fewer missense variants than expected by chance.1.04 (0.97–1.11)

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.1.04

0≤1.21.6

LoF obs/exp: 12 / 29.1Missense obs/exp: 580 / 558.4Syn Z: -0.45

0.6455th %ile

GOF

0.6541th %ile

LOF

0.51top 25%

This gene has evidence for multiple mechanisms of pathogenicity (gain-of-function, dominant-negative and loss-of-function). 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

LOF57% of P/LP variants are LoF

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. Mechanism ranking also informed by gnomAD constraint, ClinVar, and ClinGen data.