DYNC1H1

Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens
title: "DYNC1H1" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public description: "Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens" topic_path: "uncategorized" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DYNC1H1" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens ::
Cytoplasmic dynein 1 heavy chain 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DYNC1H1 gene. Dynein is a molecular motor protein that is responsible for the transport of numerous cellular cargoes to minus ends of microtubules, which are typically found in the center of a cell, or the cell body of neurons. It is located on the 14th chromosome at position 14q32.31. Cytoplasmic dynein transports cargoes along the axon in the retrograde direction, bringing materials from the axon to the cell body. Dynein heavy chain binds microtubules and hydrolyzes ATP at its C-terminal head. It binds cargo via interaction with other dynein subunits at its N-terminal tail.
Interactions
DYNC1H1 has been shown to interact with a large variety of proteins that act as adaptors and regulators. The dynein motor protein complex itself is a large, 1.4 MDa multimeric complex composed of dimerized heavy chains, two intermediate chains, two light intermediate chains, and additional light chains. Other well known adaptors and regulators are Dynactin, PAFAH1B1 and CDC5L.
Clinical relevance
Defects in axonal transport, of which dynein plays a key role, have been implicated in conditions ranging from developmental defects in the brain to neurodegenerative disease. Mutations in the DYNC1H1 gene have been associated with epilepsy, neuromuscular disease, brain malformations, intellectual disability, autism, and neurodegenerative diseases. These as a whole are considered to be DYNC1H1-Related Disorders or dyneinopathies. Recent data implies that DYNC1H1-Related Disorders should be considered progressive, though the trigger and symptoms of that progress vary from patient to patient. As of September 1, 2024, nearly 1900 gene variants have been identified and classified as either pathogenic, likely pathogenic, or variants of unknown significance. The vast majority of these are missense mutations. Due to a high degree of pleiotropy, the genotype-phenotype spectrum is still developing. Given the heterogeneity of symptoms, large gene size, and the high conservation of the gene, it is likely that many patients remain undiagnosed. In recent larger cohort studies, the average age of patients was only 12 years old, likely due to symptoms overlap with other disorders like cerebral palsy and idiopathic autism and intellectual disability.
Prior to genetic testing, clinical diagnoses for these symptoms range from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease as well as spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity predominance 1 (SMA-LED1). Another symptom is Autosomal dominant non-syndromic intellectual disability. DYNC1H1 gene variants have been increasingly correlated with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, malformations of cortical development, and seizure disorders. It is estimated that roughly 40% of patients with DYNC1H1 gene variants have epilepsy, and 80-92% of those with DYNC1H1-related epilepsy have malformations of cortical development, including both lissencephaly and polymicrogyria.
Society and Culture
The DYNC1H1 Association (dync1h1.org), a non-profit patient advocacy organization, was founded in 2023 with the goal of accelerating research into treatments for DYNC1H1-related disorders. The three founders are parents of children who have DYNC1H1-related disorders.
References
References
- (November 2005). "Cytoplasmic dynein nomenclature". J Cell Biol.
- (August 1996). "Mammalian cells express three distinct dynein heavy chains that are localized to different cytoplasmic organelles". J Cell Biol.
- "Entrez Gene: DYNC1H1 dynein, cytoplasmic 1, heavy chain 1".
- (June 2023). "Disruption of axonal transport in neurodegeneration". The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
- (November 2022). "Selective motor activation in organelle transport along axons". Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology.
- (March 2002). "Role of dynein, dynactin, and CLIP-170 interactions in LIS1 kinetochore function". The Journal of Cell Biology.
- (December 2000). "Functional analysis of the human CDC5L complex and identification of its components by mass spectrometry". The EMBO Journal.
- (June 2024). "The expanding clinical and genetic spectrum of DYNC1H1-related disorders". Brain.
- (July 2019). "Molecular basis for dyneinopathies reveals insight into dynein regulation and dysfunction". eLife.
- "DYNC1H1". U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- (2022-07-11). "Expanding the Phenotypic and Genetic Spectrum of Neuromuscular Diseases Caused by DYNC1H1 Mutations". Frontiers in Neurology.
- (January 2012). "The mechanism of dynein motility: insight from crystal structures of the motor domain". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research.
- (August 2011). "Exome sequencing identifies a DYNC1H1 mutation in a large pedigree with dominant axonal Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease". American Journal of Human Genetics.
- (May 2012). "Mutations in the tail domain of DYNC1H1 cause dominant spinal muscular atrophy". Neurology.
- "Orphanet: Rare non-syndromic intellectual disability".
- (December 2023). "Somatic Mosaicism in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia Reveals Widespread Degeneration from Focal Mutations".
- (February 2022). "A novel variant in DYNC1H1 could contribute to human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal dementia spectrum". Cold Spring Harbor Molecular Case Studies.
- (July 2024). "Clinical features and genotype-phenotype correlations in epilepsy patients with de novo DYNC1H1 variants". Epilepsia.
- (April 2023). "DYNC1H1-related epilepsy: Genotype-phenotype correlation". Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology.
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