GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:2890

DKC1

dyskerin pseudouridine synthase 1

protein-coding geneXq28Gene information

What does this gene do?

The DKC1 gene provides instructions for making a protein called dyskerin. This protein is involved in maintaining structures called telomeres, which are found at the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres help protect chromosomes from abnormally sticking together or breaking down (degrading).

In most cells, telomeres become progressively shorter as the cell divides. After a certain number of cell divisions, the telomeres become so short that they trigger the cell to stop dividing or to self-destruct (undergo apoptosis).

Telomeres are maintained by two important protein complexes, telomerase and shelterin. Telomerase counteracts the shortening of telomeres by adding small repeated segments of DNA to the ends of chromosomes each time the cell divides. One component of telomerase, called hTR, provides a template for creating the repeated sequence of DNA that telomerase adds to the ends of chromosomes. The dyskerin protein attaches (binds) to hTR and helps stabilize the telomerase complex.

In most types of cells, telomerase is either undetectable or active at very low levels. However, telomerase is highly active in cells that divide rapidly, such as cells that line the lungs and gastrointestinal tract, cells in bone marrow, and cells of the developing fetus. Telomerase allows these cells to divide many times without becoming damaged or undergoing apoptosis. Telomerase is also abnormally active in most cancer cells, which grow and divide without control or order.

Dyskerin is also involved in the production of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), a chemical cousin of DNA. Ribosomal RNA is required for assembling protein building blocks (amino acids) into functioning proteins.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2020-08-18. Source review: 2014-02.

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
DKC1-related disorderMONDO:0100152 · Evaluated 2020-06-16	X-linked	DefinitiveIntellectual Disability and Autism Gene Curation Expert Panel
dyskeratosis congenita, X-linkedMONDO:0010584 · Evaluated 2025-09-22	X-linked	DefinitiveHereditary Cancer 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: 876
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 1,266
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 1,021
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 35
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 169
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 26

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 DKC1?

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 35 alleles in DKC1 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 DKC1.

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

Buy BioDecode See a sample report →Check file compatibility →