COL6A2

protein-coding

collagen type VI alpha 2 chain, the group of Collagens

Gene summary

This gene encodes one of the three alpha chains of type VI collagen, a beaded filament collagen found in most connective tissues. The product of this gene contains several domains similar to von Willebrand Factor type A domains. These domains have been shown to bind extracellular matrix proteins, an interaction that explains the importance of this collagen in organizing matrix components. Mutations in this gene are associated with Bethlem myopathy and Ullrich scleroatonic muscular dystrophy. Three transcript variants have been identified for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]

MANE transcript

NM_001849.4

Inheritance

AR, AD

ClinVar variants

P:291U:779B:645

Top phenotype

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1B; Myosclerosis, autosomal recessive; Bethlem myopathy 1B; Epilepsy, progressive myoclonic, autosomal recessive

gnomAD constraint

pLI —, LoF o/e 0.41

Max pathogenic AF

—

Genomic locus

chr21:46,098,112-46,132,848

External References & Databases

Transcript & Mutation Effects

hg38 • Region Span ~34.7 kb
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GenCC Phenotypes & Disease Associations

Curated gene-disease validity assertions and inheritance patterns

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1ASTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0009681

Submitter: Labcorp Genetics (formerly Invitae)

Bethlem myopathy 1ASTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0024530

Submitter: Genomics England PanelApp

collagen 6-related myopathyDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0100225

Submitter: ClinGen

COL6A2, encoding Collagen Type VI Alpha 2, is one of several genes encoding the major structural protein Collagen VI. The protein's basic structural unit is a heterotrimer of the alpha1(VI), alpha2(VI), and alpha3(VI) chains additionally encoded by the genes COL6A1 and COL6A3 to form the triple helical structural element common to collagens. Mutations in Collagen VI have historically been reported in relation to two different conditions. The first, Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, was first described in a series of papers in the 1930s by Otto Ullrich and was notable due to occurrence of both weakness and joint hypermobility (Kongenitale atonisch-sklerotische Muskeldystrophie, 1930) and was classically considered a recessive condition. The second, Bethlem myopathy, was reported by Bethlem and van Wijngaarden in 1976 as a dominant myopathy with development of joint contractures (PMID: 963533). Genetic analysis in patients with each of these disorders revealed both dominant and recessive defects in one of the COL6A1, COL6A2, or COL6A3 genes that affect the final Collagen VI protein. On the basis of clinical as well as genetic findings, Ullrich CMD and Bethlem myopathy can justifiably be regarded as being positioned at the flanking ends of a continuous spectrum of disease, which also includes limb-girdle and myosclerosis phenotypes, rather than as distinct clinical entities (PMID: 21496625). As such COL6A2 was curated in relation to a combined disease entity: Collagen 6-Related Myopathy. This disorder illustrates the important role that collagen VI has in skeletal muscle. In addition to progressive muscle weakness and wasting, patients have skin and tendon abnormalities that reflect a more generalized connective tissue disorder. Dominant and recessive variants are found in patients across the clinical disease spectrum Collagen 6-Related Myopathy. Distinct variants are associated with dominant and recessive inheritance and have been curated separately by the Congenital Myopathies GCEP. Dominant inheritance occurs with dominant negative mutations in the collagen VI triple helical regions, including glycine substitution and exon skip mutations. In contrast, recessive inheritance occurs with loss of function variants; heterozygous carriers of COL6A2 premature stop variants have no obvious phenotype but patients with homozygous or compound heterozygous premature stop variants completely lack collagen VI and tend to have severe disease. More than 90 unique variants (e.g. missense, in-frame indel, nonsense, frameshift) have been reported in humans by ClinVar. Evidence supporting this gene-disease relationship includes case-level data, segregation data, and experimental data. Variants included in this curation have been reported in at least 24 probands in 8 publications (PMIDs: 8618682, 11865138, 15563506, 18825676, 17785673, 20976770, 37023487, 25535305). Many other cases are available in the literature, but the maximum score for genetic evidence has been reached. This gene-disease association is additionally supported by several pieces of experimental evidence, including its interaction with additional disease-causing genes COL6A1 and COL6A3 (PMID: 7768905), its function in the basement membrane surrounding muscle fibers (PMID: 9334230), which is disrupted in patient cells with altered expression in the extracellular matrix (PMID: 15563506), and models in both mice (PMID: 28650483) and zebrafish (PMID: 26362255). In summary, COL6A2 is definitively associated with dominant collagen 6-related myopathy. This has been repeatedly demonstrated in both the research and clinical diagnostic settings, and has been upheld over time. This classification was approved by the ClinGen Congenital Myopathies Gene Curation Expert Panel on 6/27/2022 and by the ClinGen Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Gene Curation Expert Panel (secondary contributor to this curation) on 11/09/2021 (SOP Version 8).

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1BDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0958235

Submitter: G2P

Bethlem myopathySUPPORTIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0008029

Submitter: Orphanet

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1ASTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0009681

Submitter: Labcorp Genetics (formerly Invitae)

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1ASTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0009681

Submitter: Genomics England PanelApp

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1ASTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0009681

Submitter: Genomics England PanelApp

Bethlem myopathy 1ASTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0024530

Submitter: Genomics England PanelApp

collagen 6-related myopathyDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0100225

Submitter: ClinGen

COL6A2, encoding Collagen Type VI Alpha 2, is one of several genes encoding the major structural protein Collagen VI. The protein's basic structural unit is a heterotrimer of the alpha1(VI), alpha2(VI), and alpha3(VI) chains additionally encoded by the genes COL6A1 and COL6A3 to form the triple helical structural element common to collagens. Mutations in Collagen VI have historically been reported in relation to two different conditions. The first, Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, was first described in a series of papers in the 1930s by Otto Ullrich and was notable due to occurrence of both weakness and joint hypermobility (Kongenitale atonisch-sklerotische Muskeldystrophie, 1930) and was classically considered a recessive condition. The second, Bethlem myopathy, was reported by Bethlem and van Wijngaarden in 1976 as a dominant myopathy with development of joint contractures (PMID: 963533). Genetic analysis in patients with each of these disorders revealed both dominant and recessive defects in one of the COL6A1, COL6A2, or COL6A3 genes that affect the final Collagen VI protein. On the basis of clinical as well as genetic findings, Ullrich CMD and Bethlem myopathy can justifiably be regarded as being positioned at the flanking ends of a continuous spectrum of disease, which also includes limb-girdle and myosclerosis phenotypes, rather than as distinct clinical entities (PMID: 21496625). As such COL6A2 was curated in relation to a combined disease entity: Collagen 6-Related Myopathy. This disorder illustrates the important role that collagen VI has in skeletal muscle. In addition to progressive muscle weakness and wasting, patients have skin and tendon abnormalities that reflect a more generalized connective tissue disorder. Dominant and recessive variants are found in patients across the clinical disease spectrum Collagen 6-Related Myopathy. Distinct variants are associated with dominant and recessive inheritance and have been curated separately by the Congenital Myopathies GCEP. Dominant inheritance occurs with dominant negative mutations in the collagen VI triple helical regions, including glycine substitution and exon skip mutations. In contrast, recessive inheritance occurs with loss of function variants; heterozygous carriers of COL6A2 premature stop variants have no obvious phenotype but patients with homozygous or compound heterozygous premature stop variants completely lack collagen VI and tend to have severe disease. More than 90 unique variants (e.g. missense, in-frame indel, nonsense, frameshift) have been reported in humans by ClinVar. Evidence supporting the relationship between COL6A2 and autosomal recessive Collagen 6-Related Myopathy includes case-level data, segregation data, and experimental data. Variants included in this curation have been reported in at least 13 probands in 7 publications (PMIDs: 11381124, 15563506, 18852439, 19949035, 17785673, 37023487, 25535305). Many other cases are available in the literature, but the maximum score for genetic evidence has been reached. This gene-disease association is additionally supported by several pieces of experimental evidence, including its interaction with additional disease-causing genes COL6A1 and COL6A3 (PMID: 7768905), its function in the basement membrane surrounding muscle fibers (PMID: 9334230), which is disrupted in patient cells with altered expression in the extracellular matrix (PMID: 15563506), and models in both mice (PMID: 28650483) and zebrafish (PMID: 26362255). In summary, COL6A2 is definitively associated with autosomal recessive collagen 6-related myopathy. This has been repeatedly demonstrated in both the research and clinical diagnostic settings, and has been upheld over time. This classification was approved by the ClinGen Congenital Myopathies Gene Curation Expert Panel on 6/27/2022 and by the ClinGen Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Gene Curation Expert Panel (secondary contributor to this curation) on 11/09/2021 (SOP Version 8).

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophySUPPORTIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AD

Disease ID:MONDO:0000355

Submitter: Orphanet

myosclerosisSUPPORTIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0009714

Submitter: Orphanet

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1BDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0958235

Submitter: G2P

Clinical Genomic Database (CGD)

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1B; Myosclerosis, autosomal recessive; Bethlem myopathy 1B; Epilepsy, progressive myoclonic, autosomal recessiveAD/AR

Manifestation: Musculoskeletal; Neurologic

Intervention: General

Rationale: Genetic knowledge may be beneficial related to issues such as selection of optimal supportive care, informed medical decision-making, prognostic considerations, and avoidance of unnecessary testing

Comments: Medical treatment (eg, with Cyclosporin A) may be beneficial

Refs: 963533; 11381124; 12297580; 15563506; 15689448; 16075202; 15955946; 17886299; 18852439; 19564581; 20106987; 20302629; 20301676; 21280092; 23138527Source: CGD (NHGRI)

ClinVar Associated Diseases & Phenotypes

Reported disease conditions connected to COL6A2 variants in ClinVar

34 Conditions Cataloged
Bethlem myopathy 1ATotal: 1777
not providedTotal: 918
not specifiedTotal: 276
Inborn genetic diseasesTotal: 212
COL6A2-related disorderTotal: 198
Collagen 6-related myopathyTotal: 171
Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1ATotal: 67
Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1BTotal: 49

ClinVar Variants & Pathogenicity by Type

Statistics based on transcript NM_001849.4. 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
2
clinvar
27
clinvar
437
clinvar
11
clinvar
477
missense
24
clinvar
68
clinvar
720
clinvar
187
clinvar
8
clinvar
1007
nonsense
25
clinvar
13
clinvar
2
clinvar
40
start loss
1
clinvar
1
frameshift
39
clinvar
29
clinvar
5
clinvar
73
splice donor/acceptor (+/-2bp)
45
clinvar
46
clinvar
24
clinvar
2
clinvar
117
Total133158779626191715

Highest pathogenic variant AF is 0.0000764335

Loading ClinVar variants...

Transcript Catalog

Annotated transcript isoforms across RefSeq and Ensembl databases

Showing 4 of 101 transcripts
Transcript IDSourceProtein IDCoding ExonsMANE Status
NM_001849.4RefSeqNP_001840.327MANE Select
ENST00000300527.9EnsemblENSP00000300527.427MANE Select
NM_058174.3RefSeqNP_478054.227MANE Plus Clinical
NM_058175.3RefSeqNP_478055.227Standard

Model Organisms & Knockout Phenotypes

Observed phenotypic effects in mouse and zebrafish models

Gene / ModelOrganismObserved Phenotype
col6a2Danio rerio

Structure: muscle cell

Quality: undifferentiated

abnormal

Gene Ontology (GO) Annotations & Pathways

Biological processes, molecular functions, cellular components and pathways

Pathways ConsensusPathDB

  • PI3K-Akt signaling pathway - Homo sapiens (human)
  • ECM-receptor interaction - Homo sapiens (human)
  • Focal adhesion - Homo sapiens (human)
  • Protein digestion and absorption - Homo sapiens (human)
  • Human papillomavirus infection - Homo sapiens (human)

Biological Process

  • growth plate cartilage chondrocyte morphogenesis
  • cell adhesion
  • response to glucose
  • extracellular matrix organization
  • protein heterotrimerization

Molecular Function

  • protein binding
  • extracellular matrix structural constituent conferring tensile strength

Cellular Component

  • extracellular region
  • collagen trimer
  • extracellular space
  • endoplasmic reticulum lumen
  • extracellular matrix

gnomAD Constraint

Source: gnomAD

Gene type
protein_coding
Transcript type
protein_coding
Transcript
ENST00000300527
Coding exons
27
Length
34753
Individuals with no LoFs
125683
Homozygous LoFs
0
Heterozygous LoFs
63
Defined
125746
p
0.000251
Z-ScoreObservedExpectedObserved/ExpectedMutation RateTotal Possible
Missense-1.157997131.120.00005496538
Missense (PolyPhen)320334.250.957362843
Synonymous-6.614633141.470.00002882069
Loss of Function4.062254.30.4050.00000284601

Population LoF Frequency

PopulationCAFp-valueStatus
African0.000450.00043rare
Latino/Admixed American0.000260.00026rare
Ashkenazi Jewish0.000500.00050rare
East Asian0.000160.00016rare
Finnish00.0absent
European (Non-Finnish)0.000260.00025rare
South Asian0.000230.00023rare
Other0.000490.00049rare

dbNSFP Gene Annotations

Source: dbNSFP

Function
FUNCTION: Collagen VI acts as a cell-binding protein.;
Disease
DISEASE: Bethlem myopathy 1 (BTHLM1) [MIM:158810]: A benign proximal myopathy characterized by early childhood onset and joint contractures most frequently affecting the elbows and ankles. {ECO:0000269|PubMed:11865138, ECO:0000269|PubMed:15689448, ECO:0000269|PubMed:17886299, ECO:0000269|PubMed:8782832}. Note=The disease is caused by mutations affecting the gene represented in this entry.; DISEASE: Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy 1 (UCMD1) [MIM:254090]: A congenital myopathy characterized by muscle weakness and multiple joint contractures, generally noted at birth or early infancy. The clinical course is more severe than in Bethlem myopathy. {ECO:0000269|PubMed:15563506, ECO:0000269|PubMed:15689448}. Note=The disease is caused by mutations affecting the gene represented in this entry.; DISEASE: Myosclerosis autosomal recessive (MYOSAR) [MIM:255600]: A condition characterized by chronic inflammation of skeletal muscle with hyperplasia of the interstitial connective tissue. The clinical picture includes slender muscles with firm 'woody' consistency and restriction of movement of many joints because of muscle contractures. Note=The disease is caused by mutations affecting the gene represented in this entry.;

Recessive Scores

pRec
0.379

Intolerance Scores

LoFtool
0.0126
RVIS EVS
-1
RVIS percentile EVS
8.22

Essentials

Essential (CRISPR)
N
Essential (CRISPR2)
N
Essential (gene trap)
N
Indispensability pred.
N
Indispensability score
0.399

Gene Damage Prediction

AllRecessiveDominant
MendelianHighHighHigh
Primary ImmunodeficiencyHighHighHigh
CancerHighHighHigh
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