GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:171

ACVR1

activin A receptor type 1

protein-coding gene2q24.1Gene information

What does this gene do?

The ACVR1 gene provides instructions for making the activin receptor type-1 (ACVR1) protein, which is a member of a protein family called bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I receptors. BMP receptors span the cell membrane, so that one end of the protein remains inside the cell and the other end projects from the outer surface of the cell. This arrangement allows receptors to receive signals from outside the cell and transmit them inside to affect cell development and function.

The ACVR1 protein is found in many tissues of the body including skeletal muscle and cartilage. It helps to control the growth and development of the bones and muscles, including the gradual replacement of cartilage by bone (ossification). This process occurs in normal skeletal maturation from birth to young adulthood.

The ACVR1 protein is normally turned on (activated) at appropriate times by molecules called ligands. Activation may occur when these ligands, such as BMPs or a protein called activin A, attach (bind) to the receptor or to other proteins with which it forms a complex. Another protein called FKBP12 can turn off (inhibit) ACVR1 by binding to the receptor and preventing inappropriate (leaky) activation in the absence of ligands.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2022-07-15. Source review: 2007-08.

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.

Condition	Inheritance	Evidence
fibrodysplasia ossificans progressivaMONDO:0007606 · Evaluated 2023-03-01	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveSkeletal Disorders Gene Curation Expert Panel
congenital heart diseaseMONDO:0005453 · Evaluated 2023-08-14	Autosomal dominant	LimitedCongenital Heart Disease 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: 471
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 655
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 622
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 12
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 216
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 7

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 ACVR1?

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 12 alleles in ACVR1 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 ACVR1.

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

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