ABAT
protein-coding4-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
Inheritance
ClinVar variants
Top phenotype
gnomAD constraint
Max pathogenic AF
Genomic locus
External References & Databases
Transcript & Mutation Effects
hg38 • Region Span ~110.0 kbGenCC Phenotypes & Disease Associations
Curated gene-disease validity assertions and inheritance patterns
Inheritance Pattern: AR
Disease ID:MONDO:0013166
Submitter: Ambry Genetics
Inheritance Pattern: AR
Disease ID:MONDO:0013166
Submitter: Labcorp Genetics (formerly Invitae)
Inheritance Pattern: AR
Disease ID:MONDO:0013166
Submitter: PanelApp Australia
Inheritance Pattern: AR
Disease ID:MONDO:0013166
Submitter: G2P
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.
Inheritance Pattern: AR
Disease ID:MONDO:0013166
Submitter: Orphanet
Clinical Genomic Database (CGD)
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
ClinVar Associated Diseases & Phenotypes
Reported disease conditions connected to ABAT variants in ClinVar
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.
| Effect | PathogenicP | Likely pathogenicLP | VUS | Likely benignLB | BenignB | Sum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| synonymous | 6 | 172 | 5 | 183 | ||
| missense | 6 | 7 | 239 | 5 | 257 | |
| nonsense | 3 | 9 | 1 | 13 | ||
| start loss | 1 | 1 | ||||
| frameshift | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 | ||
| splice donor/acceptor (+/-2bp) | 2 | 8 | 5 | 15 | ||
| Total | 15 | 28 | 254 | 177 | 5 | 479 |
Highest pathogenic variant AF is 0.000012312845
Transcript Catalog
Annotated transcript isoforms across RefSeq and Ensembl databases
| Transcript ID | Source | Protein ID | Coding Exons | MANE Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RefSeq | NP_065737.2 | 15 | MANE Select | |
| Ensembl | ENSP00000268251.8 | 15 | MANE Select | |
| RefSeq | NP_000654.2 | 15 | Standard | |
| RefSeq | NP_001120920.1 | 15 | Standard |
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:
- 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-Score | Observed | Expected | Observed/Expected | Mutation Rate | Total Possible | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missense | 0.573 | 266 | 294 | 0.906 | 0.0000196 | 3317 |
| Missense (PolyPhen) | 57 | 99.401 | 0.57343 | 1030 | ||
| Synonymous | -0.642 | 127 | 118 | 1.08 | 0.00000863 | 931 |
| Loss of Function | 3.29 | 9 | 27.7 | 0.325 | 0.00000140 | 317 |
Population LoF Frequency
| Population | CAF | p-value | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| African | 0.000062 | 0.000062 | rare |
| Latino/Admixed American | 0.000029 | 0.000029 | rare |
| Ashkenazi Jewish | 0.00030 | 0.00030 | rare |
| East Asian | 0 | 0.0 | absent |
| Finnish | 0.000093 | 0.000092 | rare |
| European (Non-Finnish) | 0.000089 | 0.000088 | rare |
| South Asian | 0.000033 | 0.000033 | rare |
| Other | 0 | 0.0 | absent |
dbNSFP Gene Annotations
Source:
- 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
| All | Recessive | Dominant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mendelian | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Primary Immunodeficiency | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Cancer | Medium | Medium | Medium |