GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:7559

MYCN

MYCN proto-oncogene, bHLH transcription factor

protein-coding gene2p24.3Gene information

What does this gene do?

The MYCN gene provides instructions for making a protein that plays an important role in the formation of tissues and organs during development before birth. Studies in animals suggest that this protein is necessary for normal development of the limbs, heart, kidneys, lungs, nervous system, and digestive system. The MYCN protein regulates the activity of other genes by attaching (binding) to specific regions of DNA and controlling the first step of protein production (transcription). On the basis of this action, this protein is called a transcription factor.

The MYCN gene belongs to a class of genes known as oncogenes. When mutated, oncogenes have the potential to cause normal cells to become cancerous. The MYCN gene is a member of the Myc family of oncogenes. These genes play important roles in regulating cell growth and division (proliferation) and the self-destruction of cells (apoptosis).

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2020-08-18. Source review: 2018-06.

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
megalencephaly-polydactyly syndromeMONDO:0958279 · Evaluated 2026-01-07	Autosomal dominant	ModerateSyndromic Disorders Gene Curation Expert Panel
Feingold syndrome type 1MONDO:0008115 · Evaluated 2025-07-02	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveSyndromic Disorders 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: 447
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 620
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 554
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 82
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 202
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 21

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 MYCN?

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 82 alleles in MYCN 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 MYCN.

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

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