GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:4075

GABRA1

gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor subunit alpha1

protein-coding gene5q34Gene information

What does this gene do?

The GABRA1 gene provides instructions for making one piece, the alpha-1 (α1) subunit, of the GABA_A receptor protein. GABA_A receptors are made up of different combinations of five protein subunits, each produced from a different gene. (Nineteen different genes provide instructions for GABA_A receptor subunits.) These subunits form a hole (pore) in the cell membrane through which negatively charged chlorine atoms (chloride ions) can flow.

A chemical that transmits signals in the brain (a neurotransmitter) called gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) attaches to GABA_A receptors. Once GABA attaches, the pore formed by the subunits opens, and chloride ions flow across the cell membrane. After infancy, chloride ions flow into the cell through the open pore, which creates an environment in the cell that blocks (inhibits) signaling between neurons. The primary role of GABA in children and adults is to prevent the brain from being overloaded with too many signals. In contrast, in newborns and infants, chloride ions flow out of the cell when the pore is opened, creating an environment that allows signaling between neurons.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2022-07-05. Source review: 2012-06.

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
epilepsyMONDO:0005027 · Evaluated 2024-09-03	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveEpilepsy 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: 846
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 1,237
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 1,182
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 84
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 365
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 77

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 GABRA1?

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 84 alleles in GABRA1 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 GABRA1.

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

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