GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:11190

SOX10

SRY-box transcription factor 10

protein-coding gene22q13.1Gene information

What does this gene do?

The SOX10 gene belongs to a family of genes that plays a critical role in the formation of tissues and organs during embryonic development. The SOX gene family also maintains the normal function of certain cells after birth. To carry out these roles, proteins made by genes in the SOX family bind to specific areas of DNA. By attaching to critical regions near genes, SOX proteins help control the activity of those genes. SOX proteins are called transcription factors on the basis of this action.

During embryonic development, the SOX10 gene is active in cells called neural crest cells. These cells migrate from the developing spinal cord to specific regions in the embryo, where they give rise to many different types of cells. The protein made by the SOX10 gene directs the activity of other genes (such as MITF) that signal neural crest cells to become more specific cell types. In particular, the SOX10 protein is essential for the formation of nerves in the intestine (enteric nerves) and for the production of specialized cells called melanocytes. Melanocytes produce melanin, a pigment that contributes to skin, hair, and eye color. Melanin is also involved in the normal function of the inner ear.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2023-05-02. Source review: 2022-08.

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
Waardenburg syndrome type 4CMONDO:0013202 · Evaluated 2018-06-19	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveHearing Loss 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: 649
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 1,017
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 948
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 247
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 178
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 43

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 SOX10?

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 247 alleles in SOX10 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 SOX10.

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

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