GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:2961

DYNC1H1

dynein cytoplasmic 1 heavy chain 1

protein-coding gene14q32.31Gene information

What does this gene do?

The DYNC1H1 gene provides instructions for making a protein that is part of a group (complex) of proteins called dynein. This complex is found in the fluid inside cells (cytoplasm). Dynein is turned on (activated) by attaching (binding) to another complex called dynactin. This dynein-dynactin complex binds to various materials within cells. Using energy provided by molecules called ATP, the dynein-dynactin complex moves material along a track-like system of small tubes called microtubules, similar to a conveyer belt. The dynein-dynactin complex is necessary for protein transport, positioning of cell compartments, movement of structures within the cell, and many other cell processes. Dynein helps neighboring nerve cells (neurons) communicate by transporting sac-like structures called synaptic vesicles that contain chemical messengers. When synaptic vesicles are passed from one neuron to another, the dynein-dynactin complex transports the vesicle from the edge of the cell to the nucleus, where the chemical message is received.

The parts (subunits) of a dynein complex are classified by weight as heavy, intermediate, light intermediate, or light chains. Two heavy chain proteins bind together to form the core of the dynein complex. Combinations of intermediate, light intermediate, and light chains make up the rest of the complex. The protein produced from the DYNC1H1 gene is a heavy chain. Other subunits are produced from different genes.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2023-04-10. Source review: 2018-05.

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
distal hereditary motor neuropathyMONDO:0018894 · Evaluated 2026-08-08	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveCharcot-Marie-Tooth 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: 5,818
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 9,488
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 9,336
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 195
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 2,240
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 424

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 DYNC1H1?

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 195 alleles in DYNC1H1 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 DYNC1H1.

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

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