ABAT

protein-coding

4-aminobutyrate aminotransferase

Gene summary

4-aminobutyrate aminotransferase (ABAT) is responsible for catabolism of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an important, mostly inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, into succinic semialdehyde. The active enzyme is a homodimer of 50-kD subunits complexed to pyridoxal-5-phosphate. The protein sequence is over 95% similar to the pig protein. GABA is estimated to be present in nearly one-third of human synapses. ABAT in liver and brain is controlled by 2 codominant alleles with a frequency in a Caucasian population of 0.56 and 0.44. The ABAT deficiency phenotype includes psychomotor retardation, hypotonia, hyperreflexia, lethargy, refractory seizures, and EEG abnormalities. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding the same protein isoform have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]

MANE transcript

NM_020686.6

Inheritance

AR

ClinVar variants

P:43U:254B:182

Top phenotype

GABA-transaminase deficiency

gnomAD constraint

pLI —, LoF o/e 0.32

Max pathogenic AF

—

Genomic locus

chr16:8,674,596-8,784,575

External References & Databases

Transcript & Mutation Effects

hg38 • Region Span ~110.0 kb
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GenCC Phenotypes & Disease Associations

Curated gene-disease validity assertions and inheritance patterns

GABA aminotransaminase deficiencyMODERATE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0013166

Submitter: Ambry Genetics

GABA aminotransaminase deficiencySTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0013166

Submitter: Labcorp Genetics (formerly Invitae)

GABA aminotransaminase deficiencySTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0013166

Submitter: PanelApp Australia

GABA aminotransaminase deficiencyDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0013166

Submitter: G2P

genetic developmental and epileptic encephalopathyMODERATE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0100062

Submitter: ClinGen

Variants in ABAT were first reported in association with an infantile epilepsy phenotype in 1984 by Jaeken et al. (PMID:6148708). This publication described a two-year-old patient with frequent convulsions, severe psychomotor retardation, hypotonia, and hyperreflexia. Cerebrospinal fluid amino acid analysis revealed a GABA transaminase deficiency. A sibling with similar features died in infancy. Subsequent reports from 1984 to the present day continue to support an association between ABAT and a rare genetic epilepsy condition. In total, nine subjects have been described. In all subjects, this condition was inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern (four homozygous from consanguinous parents; five heterozygous from non-consanguinous parents). Summary of Case Level Data: In 1999, Medina-Kauwe et al. (PMID:10407778) reported a subject with a very similar phenotype to Jaeken et al., including seizures immediately after birth. Unfortunately, genetic information was limited (only noting a deletion in the 3’ end of ABAT), and so a minimal score of 0.1 was provided (i.e. unclear if a second variant was present in trans or not, fitting the autosomal recessive phenotype). Tsuji et al. (2010, PMID:20052547), Besse et al. (2015, PMID:27903293) and Nagappa et al. (2017, PMID:27596361) reported compound heterozygous variants in ABAT, inherited from non-consanguineous parents. Publications from Besse et al. (2015, PMID:25738457), Louro et al. (2016, PMID:27376954), Koenig et al. (2017, PMID:28411234) and Oshi et al. (2021, PMID:33768830) reported probands with homozygous missense variants. The cases from Koenig and Oshi were confirmed to be inherited from consanguineous parents. In all nine cases reported thus far, there is a clear ABAT phenotype, consisting of recurrent seizures that begin during infancy, uncontrolled limb movements, hyperreflexia, hypotonia, and accelerated linear growth with failure to thrive. Most do not survive past the first two years. Cases were scored in line with the ClinGen SOP Ver. 8 guidelines for autosomal recessive variants, after consultation with its Epilepsy Expert Panel on April 19, 2022. Some adjustments were made, taking into account inheritance, genotyping methods used, and strength of the overall evidence. Experimental Evidence: At this time, experimental evidence for this rare ABAT epilepsy phenotype is lacking. With time and additional case reports, experimental studies/functional analysis will clarify the impact of ABAT variants on cellular function and overall human disease seizure phenotype. In summary, at present there is moderate case-level evidence to support a definitive classification for this gene-disease relationship. It must be noted that this is not due to insufficient strength of individual cases, but rather, an insufficient number of cases overall to reach definitive status under ClinGen scoring guidelines. As more reports and studies become available, it is likely confidence in this gene-disease association will only increase. A subsequent re-curation should be conducted in the future to incorporate any future cases into this existing curation, along with an updated score.

GABA aminotransaminase deficiencySUPPORTIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0013166

Submitter: Orphanet

Clinical Genomic Database (CGD)

GABA-transaminase deficiencyAR

Manifestation: Biochemical; Neurologic

Intervention: Biochemical

Rationale: The condition includes neonatal or early-onset neurologic sequelae, and medical management (with continuous flumazenil) has been described as beneficial in a patient with a milder phenotype

Refs: 6148708; 4020531; 10407778; 27596361; 28411234Source: CGD (NHGRI)

ClinVar Associated Diseases & Phenotypes

Reported disease conditions connected to ABAT variants in ClinVar

5 Conditions Cataloged
Gamma-aminobutyric acid transaminase deficiencyTotal: 624
not providedTotal: 75
Inborn genetic diseasesTotal: 61
not specifiedTotal: 44
ABAT-related disorderTotal: 11

ClinVar Variants & Pathogenicity by Type

Statistics based on transcript NM_020686.6. Only rare variants are included.

We include only reliable ClinVar variants with their consequences to MANE Select, MANE Plus Clinical transcripts, or transcripts with TSL equal to 1. Click a count to filter the variants table below.

Slight differences between displayed counts and ClinVar may occur due to a different transcript/consequence chosen by our variant effect predictor, or because we classify Benign/Likely benign as Likely benign and Pathogenic/Likely pathogenic as Likely pathogenic.

EffectPLPVUSLBBSum
synonymous
6
clinvar
172
clinvar
5
clinvar
183
missense
6
clinvar
7
clinvar
239
clinvar
5
clinvar
257
nonsense
3
clinvar
9
clinvar
1
clinvar
13
start loss
1
clinvar
1
frameshift
4
clinvar
4
clinvar
2
clinvar
10
splice donor/acceptor (+/-2bp)
2
clinvar
8
clinvar
5
clinvar
15
Total15282541775479

Highest pathogenic variant AF is 0.000012312845

Loading ClinVar variants...

Transcript Catalog

Annotated transcript isoforms across RefSeq and Ensembl databases

Showing 4 of 50 transcripts
Transcript IDSourceProtein IDCoding ExonsMANE Status
NM_020686.6RefSeqNP_065737.215MANE Select
ENST00000268251.13EnsemblENSP00000268251.815MANE Select
NM_000663.5RefSeqNP_000654.215Standard
NM_001127448.2RefSeqNP_001120920.115Standard

Gene Ontology (GO) Annotations & Pathways

Biological processes, molecular functions, cellular components and pathways

Pathways ConsensusPathDB

  • Alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism - Homo sapiens (human)
  • GABAergic synapse - Homo sapiens (human)
  • Butanoate metabolism - Homo sapiens (human)
  • beta-Alanine metabolism - Homo sapiens (human)
  • Propanoate metabolism - Homo sapiens (human)

Biological Process

  • response to hypoxia
  • aging
  • copulation
  • locomotory behavior
  • gamma-aminobutyric acid biosynthetic process

Molecular Function

  • 4-aminobutyrate transaminase activity
  • pyridoxal phosphate binding
  • succinate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase binding
  • 4-aminobutyrate:2-oxoglutarate transaminase activity
  • protein homodimerization activity

Cellular Component

  • mitochondrion
  • mitochondrial matrix
  • 4-aminobutyrate transaminase complex
  • neuron projection

gnomAD Constraint

Source: gnomAD

Gene type
protein_coding
Transcript type
protein_coding
Transcript
ENST00000396600
Coding exons
15
Length
110011
Individuals with no LoFs
125730
Homozygous LoFs
0
Heterozygous LoFs
18
Defined
125748
p
0.0000716
Z-ScoreObservedExpectedObserved/ExpectedMutation RateTotal Possible
Missense0.5732662940.9060.00001963317
Missense (PolyPhen)5799.4010.573431030
Synonymous-0.6421271181.080.00000863931
Loss of Function3.29927.70.3250.00000140317

Population LoF Frequency

PopulationCAFp-valueStatus
African0.0000620.000062rare
Latino/Admixed American0.0000290.000029rare
Ashkenazi Jewish0.000300.00030rare
East Asian00.0absent
Finnish0.0000930.000092rare
European (Non-Finnish)0.0000890.000088rare
South Asian0.0000330.000033rare
Other00.0absent

dbNSFP Gene Annotations

Source: dbNSFP

Function
FUNCTION: Catalyzes the conversion of gamma-aminobutyrate and L- beta-aminoisobutyrate to succinate semialdehyde and methylmalonate semialdehyde, respectively. Can also convert delta-aminovalerate and beta-alanine.;

Intolerance Scores

LoFtool
0.106
RVIS EVS
-0.33
RVIS percentile EVS
30.74

Essentials

Essential (CRISPR)
N
Essential (CRISPR2)
N
Essential (gene trap)
N
Indispensability pred.
E
Indispensability score
0.940

Gene Damage Prediction

AllRecessiveDominant
MendelianMediumMediumMedium
Primary ImmunodeficiencyMediumMediumMedium
CancerMediumMediumMedium
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