GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:2561

CXCR4

C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4

protein-coding gene2q22.1Gene information

What does this gene do?

The CXCR4 gene provides instructions for making a receptor protein that spans the outer membrane of cells, specifically white blood cells and cells in the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). Receptor proteins have specific sites into which certain other proteins, called ligands, fit like keys into locks. After attachment of its ligand, called SDF-1, the CXCR4 protein turns on (activates) signaling pathways inside the cell. These pathways help regulate cell growth and division (proliferation), the process by which cells mature to carry out specific functions (differentiation), and cell survival. Once signaling is stimulated, the CXCR4 protein is removed from the cell membrane (internalized) and broken down so it can no longer activate the signaling pathways.

The CXCR4 receptor is also involved in the movement (migration) of cells. Cells that have the CXCR4 protein in their membrane are attracted to SDF-1. High levels of this ligand are found in the bone marrow, which helps certain blood cells migrate to and stay in the bone marrow until they are needed elsewhere in the body. Retention of early blood cells known as hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow is important to ensure that stem cells are available when needed. White blood cells also remain in the bone marrow until they are needed in the body to fight infection.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2020-08-18. Source review: 2015-03.

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
WHIM syndromeMONDO:0023880 · Evaluated 2023-01-17	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveAntibody Deficiencies 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: 272
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 400
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 371
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 43
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 110
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 15

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 CXCR4?

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 43 alleles in CXCR4 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 CXCR4.

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

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