ClinVar

Description

The p.F508C variant (also known as c.1523T>G), located in coding exon 11 of the CFTR gene, results from a T to G substitution at nucleotide position 1523. The phenylalanine at codon 508 is replaced by cysteine, an amino acid with highly dissimilar properties. This variant was first detected in two healthy individuals who also carried the p.F508del mutation on the other chromosome; thus, the authors suggested a benign classification (Kobayashi K et al. Am. J. Hum. Genet., 1990 Oct;47:611-5). Subsequently, p.F508C was detected with another pathogenic mutation in 3 of 182 individuals with congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD). This same study also described 5 individuals who were compound heterozygous with another pathogenic mutation in a cohort of 5938 individuals suspected to have CF. However, the frequency of the p.F508C variant in this suspected CF population did not significantly differ from that of their control population (Havasi V et al. Genet. Med., 2008 Dec;10:910-4). Functional studies determined that this substitution does not affect CFTR function, protein folding, or the transport of the protein to the cell membrane, but could affect ion channel function, particularly when co-occurring with another alteration (Raraigh KS et al. Am. J. Hum. Genet., 2018 Jun;102:1062-1077; Du K et al. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol., 2005 Jan;12:17-25; Cui L et al. J. Physiol. (Lond.), 2006 Apr;572:347-58). This amino acid position is highly conserved in available vertebrate species. In addition, this alteration is predicted to be deleterious by in silico analysis. Based on available evidence to date, this variant is unlikely to be causative of classic CF; however, its contribution to the development of a CFTR-related disorder is uncertain. This alteration is thus classified as a variant of unknown significance.