RAG1

protein-coding

recombination activating 1, the group of DNA transposon derived genes|Ring finger proteins

Gene summary

The protein encoded by this gene is involved in activation of immunoglobulin V-D-J recombination. The encoded protein is involved in recognition of the DNA substrate, but stable binding and cleavage activity also requires RAG2. Defects in this gene can be the cause of several diseases. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]

MANE transcript

NM_000448.3

Inheritance

AR

ClinVar variants

P:192U:359B:334

Top phenotype

Severe combined immunodeficienc, autosomal recessive, T cell-negative, B cell-negative, natural killer cell-positive; Omenn syndrome; Alpha/beta T-cell lymphopenia with gamma/delta T-cell expansion, severe cytomegalovirus infection, and autoimmunity; Combined cellular and humoral immune defects with granulomas

gnomAD constraint

pLI —, LoF o/e 0.45

Max pathogenic AF

—

Genomic locus

chr11:36,510,372-36,593,156

External References & Databases

Transcript & Mutation Effects

hg38 • Region Span ~82.8 kb
Loading mutation effect viewer...

GenCC Phenotypes & Disease Associations

Curated gene-disease validity assertions and inheritance patterns

severe combined immunodeficiency, autosomal recessive, T cell-negative, B cell-negative, NK cell-positiveSTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0011086

Submitter: Ambry Genetics

Omenn syndromeSTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0011338

Submitter: Genomics England PanelApp

recombinase activating gene 1 deficiencyDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0000572

Submitter: ClinGen

RAG1 was first reported in relation to autosomal recessive recombinase activating gene 1 deficiency in 1996 (Schwarz K, et al., 1996, PMID: 8810255). RAG1 encodes recombination-activating gene 1, a recombinase involved in V(D)J recombination by introducing double-stranded breaks between recombination signal sequences and coding segments. In RAG1-deficient individuals, V(D)J recombination is blocked such that mature B or T cells are not produced, leading to T-B- SCID which typically presents in infancy with recurrent, persistent infections by opportunistic organisms. Biallelic loss of function variants as associated with a SCID presentation, while hypomorphic alleles may lead to Leaky SCID with the presence of some mature T-cells. Omenn Syndrome -- characterized by SCID associated with erythrodermia, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, and alopecia -- is one presentation of Leaky SCID. SCID, Leaky SCID and Omenn Syndrome are considered a spectrum of a single disease, and per criteria outlined by the ClinGen Lumping and Splitting Working Group, we found no difference in molecular mechanism or inheritance pattern. Therefore, all of the disease entities have been lumped into one disease entity, RAG1 deficiency. Generally, heterozygous parents/carriers are clinically unaffected. However, the acquisition of post-zygotic, somatic events on the other allele in specific cells may cause manifestations of the recessive condition in carriers (PMID: 31503426), and at least one case of a late clinical presentation of an idiopathic T-cell lymphopenia secondary to a heterozygous hypomorphic RAG1 mutation has been reported (PMID: 23122631). Over 200 unique variants (e.g. missense, in-frame indel, nonsense, frameshift, and large deletion) have been reported in humans with autosomal recessive RAG1 deficiency. Curated evidence supporting the gene-disease relationship includes 15 probands with RAG1 variants who have been reported in 2 publications (PMIDs: 8810255 and 11133745). This gene-disease relationship is also supported by experimental evidence, including its biochemical function in V(D)J recombination (PMID: 8521468), which is altered in both patient and non-patient cells (PMID: 24290284) expressing RAG1 variants. Additionally, RAG1 interacts with RAG2 (PMID: 8777717) which causes a similar phenotype and RAG1 expression is generally restricted in lymphocytes (PMID: 25613900). Furthermore, animal models recapitulate the spectrum of disease with Leaky SCID (PMID: 19126872) and T-B- SCID (PMID: 1547488) phenotypes. More evidence is available in the literature, but the maximum score for genetic and experimental evidence has been reached. In summary, RAG1 is definitively associated with autosomal recessive RAG1 deficiency. 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 SCID/CID GCEP on 06/17/2021.

Omenn syndromeSUPPORTIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0011338

Submitter: Orphanet

severe combined immunodeficiency, autosomal recessive, T cell-negative, B cell-negative, NK cell-positiveSUPPORTIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0011086

Submitter: Orphanet

immunodeficiency diseaseDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0021094

Submitter: Ambry Genetics

Omenn syndromeDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0011338

Submitter: Ambry Genetics

combined immunodeficiency due to partial RAG1 deficiencySUPPORTIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0012359

Submitter: Orphanet

severe combined immunodeficiency, autosomal recessive, T cell-negative, B cell-negative, NK cell-positiveSTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0011086

Submitter: Labcorp Genetics (formerly Invitae)

Omenn syndromeDEFINITIVE

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0011338

Submitter: G2P

recombinase activating gene 1 deficiencySTRONG

Inheritance Pattern: AR

Disease ID:MONDO:0000572

Submitter: PanelApp Australia

Clinical Genomic Database (CGD)

Severe combined immunodeficienc, autosomal recessive, T cell-negative, B cell-negative, natural killer cell-positive; Omenn syndrome; Alpha/beta T-cell lymphopenia with gamma/delta T-cell expansion, severe cytomegalovirus infection, and autoimmunity; Combined cellular and humoral immune defects with granulomasAR

Manifestation: Allergy/Immunology/Infectious; Dermatologic; Gastrointestinal

Intervention: Allergy/Immunology/Infectious

Rationale: Antiinfectious prophylaxis (though special consideration is necessary related to the use of live vaccines) and early and aggressive treatment of infections may be beneficial; HSCT has been reported

Refs: 9630231; 10226883; 11313270; 16276422; 18463379; 20956421; 20489056; 21131235; 21624848; 21184155; 21732012; 21625022; 21771083; 22424479Source: CGD (NHGRI)

ClinVar Associated Diseases & Phenotypes

Reported disease conditions connected to RAG1 variants in ClinVar

19 Conditions Cataloged
Severe combined immunodeficiency, autosomal recessive, T cell-negative, B cell-negative, NK cell-positiveTotal: 764
Combined immunodeficiency with skin granulomasTotal: 736
Histiocytic medullary reticulosisTotal: 132
Combined immunodeficiency due to partial RAG1 deficiencyTotal: 120
not providedTotal: 107
Inborn genetic diseasesTotal: 79
Recombinase activating gene 1 deficiencyTotal: 46
not specifiedTotal: 42

ClinVar Variants & Pathogenicity by Type

Statistics based on transcript NM_000448.3. 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
311
clinvar
1
clinvar
314
missense
26
clinvar
57
clinvar
354
clinvar
16
clinvar
6
clinvar
459
nonsense
19
clinvar
22
clinvar
41
start loss
1
clinvar
1
frameshift
39
clinvar
29
clinvar
1
clinvar
69
splice donor/acceptor (+/-2bp)
1
clinvar
1
Total841083593277885

Highest pathogenic variant AF is 0.000121430654

Loading ClinVar variants...

Transcript Catalog

Annotated transcript isoforms across RefSeq and Ensembl databases

Showing 4 of 19 transcripts
Transcript IDSourceProtein IDCoding ExonsMANE Status
NM_000448.3RefSeqNP_000439.21MANE Select
ENST00000299440.6EnsemblENSP00000299440.51MANE Select
NM_001377277.1RefSeqNP_001364206.11Standard
NM_001377278.1RefSeqNP_001364207.11Standard

Model Organisms & Knockout Phenotypes

Observed phenotypic effects in mouse and zebrafish models

Gene / ModelOrganismObserved Phenotype
rag1Danio rerio

Structure: mature B cell

Quality: absent

abnormal

Gene Ontology (GO) Annotations & Pathways

Biological processes, molecular functions, cellular components and pathways

Pathways ConsensusPathDB

  • Primary immunodeficiency - Homo sapiens (human)
  • FoxO signaling pathway - Homo sapiens (human)
  • MAPK6-MAPK4 signaling
  • Signal Transduction
  • MAPK6/MAPK4 signaling

Biological Process

  • adaptive immune response
  • pre-B cell allelic exclusion
  • DNA recombination
  • immune response
  • visual learning

Molecular Function

  • DNA binding
  • endonuclease activity
  • ubiquitin-protein transferase activity
  • protein binding
  • zinc ion binding

Cellular Component

  • nucleus
  • nucleoplasm

gnomAD Constraint

Source: gnomAD

Gene type
protein_coding
Transcript type
protein_coding
Transcript
ENST00000299440
Coding exons
1
Length
82448
Individuals with no LoFs
125662
Homozygous LoFs
0
Heterozygous LoFs
80
Defined
125742
p
0.000318
Z-ScoreObservedExpectedObserved/ExpectedMutation RateTotal Possible
Missense0.5815045420.9300.00003146929
Missense (PolyPhen)242314.270.770034022
Synonymous0.08332052070.9930.00001122011
Loss of Function2.601226.40.4540.00000151380

Population LoF Frequency

PopulationCAFp-valueStatus
African0.000310.00031rare
Latino/Admixed American0.000380.00038rare
Ashkenazi Jewish0.0000990.000099rare
East Asian0.000490.00049rare
Finnish0.000190.00018rare
European (Non-Finnish)0.000320.00032rare
South Asian0.000230.00023rare
Other0.000820.00081rare

dbNSFP Gene Annotations

Source: dbNSFP

Function
FUNCTION: Catalytic component of the RAG complex, a multiprotein complex that mediates the DNA cleavage phase during V(D)J recombination. V(D)J recombination assembles a diverse repertoire of immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor genes in developing B and T- lymphocytes through rearrangement of different V (variable), in some cases D (diversity), and J (joining) gene segments. In the RAG complex, RAG1 mediates the DNA-binding to the conserved recombination signal sequences (RSS) and catalyzes the DNA cleavage activities by introducing a double-strand break between the RSS and the adjacent coding segment. RAG2 is not a catalytic component but is required for all known catalytic activities. DNA cleavage occurs in 2 steps: a first nick is introduced in the top strand immediately upstream of the heptamer, generating a 3'- hydroxyl group that can attack the phosphodiester bond on the opposite strand in a direct transesterification reaction, thereby creating 4 DNA ends: 2 hairpin coding ends and 2 blunt, 5'- phosphorylated ends. The chromatin structure plays an essential role in the V(D)J recombination reactions and the presence of histone H3 trimethylated at 'Lys-4' (H3K4me3) stimulates both the nicking and haipinning steps. The RAG complex also plays a role in pre-B cell allelic exclusion, a process leading to expression of a single immunoglobulin heavy chain allele to enforce clonality and monospecific recognition by the B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) expressed on individual B-lymphocytes. The introduction of DNA breaks by the RAG complex on one immunoglobulin allele induces ATM-dependent repositioning of the other allele to pericentromeric heterochromatin, preventing accessibility to the RAG complex and recombination of the second allele. In addition to its endonuclease activity, RAG1 also acts as an E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase that mediates monoubiquitination of histone H3. Histone H3 monoubiquitination is required for the joining step of V(D)J recombination. Mediates polyubiquitination of KPNA1 (By similarity). {ECO:0000250}.;
Disease
DISEASE: Combined cellular and humoral immune defects with granulomas (CHIDG) [MIM:233650]: Immunodeficiency disease with granulomas in the skin, mucous membranes, and internal organs. Other characteristics include hypogammaglobulinemia, a diminished number of T and B-cells, and sparse thymic tissue on ultrasonography. {ECO:0000269|PubMed:18463379}. Note=The disease is caused by mutations affecting the gene represented in this entry.; DISEASE: Severe combined immunodeficiency autosomal recessive T- cell-negative/B-cell-negative/NK-cell-positive (T(-)B(-)NK(+) SCID) [MIM:601457]: A form of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare congenital disorders characterized by impairment of both humoral and cell-mediated immunity, leukopenia, and low or absent antibody levels. Patients present in infancy recurrent, persistent infections by opportunistic organisms. The common characteristic of all types of SCID is absence of T-cell-mediated cellular immunity due to a defect in T-cell development. {ECO:0000269|PubMed:19912631, ECO:0000269|PubMed:8810255}. Note=The disease is caused by mutations affecting the gene represented in this entry.; DISEASE: Omenn syndrome (OS) [MIM:603554]: Severe immunodeficiency characterized by the presence of activated, anergic, oligoclonal T-cells, hypereosinophilia, and high IgE levels. {ECO:0000269|PubMed:10606976, ECO:0000269|PubMed:11133745, ECO:0000269|PubMed:19912631, ECO:0000269|PubMed:21624848, ECO:0000269|PubMed:21771083, ECO:0000269|PubMed:9630231}. Note=The disease is caused by mutations affecting the gene represented in this entry.; DISEASE: Alpha/beta T-cell lymphopenia, with gamma/delta T-cell expansion, severe cytomegalovirus infection and autoimmunity (T- CMVA) [MIM:609889]: An immunological disorder characterized by oligoclonal expansion of TCR gamma/delta T-cells, TCR alpha/beta T-cell lymphopenia, severe, disseminated cytomegalovirus infection and autoimmune cytopenia. {ECO:0000269|PubMed:16276422}. Note=The disease is caused by mutations affecting the gene represented in this entry.;

Recessive Scores

pRec
0.572

Intolerance Scores

LoFtool
0.156
RVIS EVS
-0.37
RVIS percentile EVS
28.29

Essentials

Essential (CRISPR)
N
Essential (CRISPR2)
N
Essential (gene trap)
N
Indispensability pred.
E
Indispensability score
0.712

Gene Damage Prediction

AllRecessiveDominant
MendelianMediumMediumMedium
Primary ImmunodeficiencyMediumMediumMedium
CancerMediumMediumMedium
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