GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:29304

UVSSA

UV stimulated scaffold protein A

protein-coding gene4p16.3Gene information

What does this gene do?

The UVSSA gene provides instructions for making a protein that is involved in repairing DNA damaged by ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. The damage can block vital cell activities such as gene transcription, which is the first step in protein production. If left uncorrected, DNA damage accumulates, which causes cells to malfunction and can lead to cell death.

Cells have several mechanisms to correct DNA damage. The UVSSA protein is involved in one mechanism that repairs damaged DNA within active genes (those genes undergoing gene transcription). When DNA in active genes is damaged, the enzyme that carries out gene transcription (RNA polymerase) gets stuck, and the process stalls. Researchers think that the UVSSA protein helps remove RNA polymerase from the damaged site, so the DNA can be repaired. Part of the UVSSA protein's role in this process is to ensure that another important protein called CSB is not broken down by exposure to UV rays.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2020-08-18. Source review: 2012-07.

ClinGen reviews

We found no matching ClinGen review in the data used here. This does not rule out a link between the gene and a condition.

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: 587
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 624
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 272
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 14
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 302
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 1

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 UVSSA?

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 14 alleles in UVSSA 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 UVSSA.

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

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