GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:12496

UBE3A

ubiquitin protein ligase E3A

protein-coding gene15q11.2Gene information

What does this gene do?

The UBE3A gene provides instructions for making a protein called ubiquitin protein ligase E3A. Ubiquitin protein ligases are enzymes that target other proteins to be broken down (degraded) within cells. These enzymes attach a small molecule called ubiquitin to proteins that should be degraded. Cellular structures called proteasomes recognize and digest these ubiquitin-tagged proteins. Protein degradation is a normal process that removes damaged or unnecessary proteins and helps maintain the normal functions of cells.

Studies suggest that ubiquitin protein ligase E3A plays a critical role in the normal development and function of the nervous system. Studies suggest that it helps control (regulate) the balance of protein synthesis and degradation (proteostasis) at the junctions between nerve cells (synapses) where cell-to-cell communication takes place. Regulation of proteostasis is important for the synapses to change and adapt over time in response to experience, a characteristic called synaptic plasticity. Synaptic plasticity is critical for learning and memory.

People normally inherit two copies of the UBE3A gene, one from each parent. Both copies of the gene are turned on (active) in most of the body's tissues. However, in nerve cells (neurons) in the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system), only the copy inherited from a person's mother (the maternal copy) is active. This parent-specific gene activation results from a phenomenon known as genomic imprinting.

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

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
Angelman syndromeMONDO:0007113 · Evaluated 2018-05-02	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveRett and Angelman-like 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: 1,446
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 2,066
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 1,701
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 322
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 437
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 20

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 UBE3A?

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 322 alleles in UBE3A 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 UBE3A.

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

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