Human Gene Module / Chromosome 1 / ZNF644

ZNF644zinc finger protein 644

SFARI Gene Score
3
Suggestive Evidence Criteria 3.1
Autism Reports / Total Reports
4 / 4
Rare Variants / Common Variants
4 / 0
Aliases
-
Associated Syndromes
-
Chromosome Band
1p22.2
Associated Disorders
-
Relevance to Autism

Chen et al., 2025 integrated cortex cell-specific cis-regulatory element annotations, a deep learning-based variant prediction model, and massively parallel reporter assays to systematically evaluate the functional impact of 227,878 non-coding de novo mutations (ncDNMs) in ASD probands from Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) and Autism Speaks MSSNG resource (MSSNG) cohorts and identified a ncDNM that down-regulated expression of the ZNF644 gene in a MSSNG proband. A de novo loss-of-function variant and a de novo missense variant have also been identified in the ZNF644 gene in ASD probands (Iossifov et al., 2014; Tan et al., 2024).

Molecular Function

The protein encoded by this gene is a zinc finger transcription factor that may play a role in eye development. Defects in this gene have been associated with high myopia (MYP21; OMIM 614167).

External Links
Gene CardPubMed
Human
Entrez GeneOMIMUniProtHumanBaseVariCarta
SFARI Genomic Platforms
GPF browser
Reports related to ZNF644 (4 Reports)
# Type Title Author, Year Autism Report Associated Disorders
1 Support The contribution of de novo coding mutations to autism spectrum disorder Iossifov I et al. (2014) Yes -
2 Support - Senwei Tan et al. () Yes -
3 Primary - Congcong Chen et al. () Yes -
4 Recent Recommendation - Stephen P Plassmeyer et al. (2025) Yes -
Rare Variants   (4)
Status Allele Change Residue Change Variant Type Inheritance Pattern Parental Transmission Family Type PubMed ID Author, Year
G>A - intergenic_variant De novo - Multiplex 40738258 Congcong Chen et al. ()
c.1609G>A p.Glu537Lys missense_variant De novo - Simplex 25363768 Iossifov I et al. (2014)
c.-10T>A - 5_prime_UTR_variant De novo - Simplex 41344325 Stephen P Plassmeyer et al. (2025)
c.873_876del p.Arg291SerfsTer6 frameshift_variant De novo - Simplex 39472663 Senwei Tan et al. ()
Common Variants  

No common variants reported.

SFARI Gene score
3

Suggestive Evidence

criteria met
See SFARI Gene'scoring criteria
3

Suggestive Evidence

See all Category 3 Genes

The literature is replete with relatively small studies of candidate genes, using either common or rare variant approaches, which do not reach the criteria set out for categories 1 and 2. Genes that had two such lines of supporting evidence were placed in category 3, and those with one line of evidence were placed in category 4. Some additional lines of "accessory evidence" (indicated as "acc" in the score cards) could also boost a gene from category 4 to 3.

10/1/2025
3

Initial score established: 3

Krishnan Probability Score

Score 0.49438845831749

Ranking 3689/25841 scored genes


[Show Scoring Methodology]
Krishnan and colleagues generated probability scores genome-wide by using a machine learning approach on a human brain-specific gene network. The method was first presented in Nat Neurosci 19, 1454-1462 (2016), and scores for more than 25,000 RefSeq genes can be accessed in column G of supplementary table 3 (see: http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v19/n11/extref/nn.4353-S5.xlsx). A searchable browser, with the ability to view networks of associated ASD risk genes, can be found at asd.princeton.edu.
Original Source
ExAC Score

Score 0.99732857964278

Ranking 1328/18225 scored genes


[Show Scoring Methodology]
The Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC) is a summary database of 60,706 exomes that has been widely used to estimate 'constraint' on mutation for individual genes. It was introduced by Lek et al. Nature 536, 285-291 (2016), and the ExAC browser can be found at exac.broadinstitute.org. The pLI score was developed as measure of intolerance to loss-of- function mutation. A pLI > 0.9 is generally viewed as highly constrained, and thus any loss-of- function mutations in autism in such a gene would be more likely to confer risk. For a full list of pLI scores see: ftp://ftp.broadinstitute.org/pub/ExAC_release/release0.3.1/functional_gene_constraint/fordist_cle aned_exac_nonTCGA_z_pli_rec_null_data.txt
Original Source
Sanders TADA Score

Score 0.65658806295153

Ranking 925/18665 scored genes


[Show Scoring Methodology]
The TADA score ('Transmission and De novo Association') was introduced by He et al. PLoS Genet 9(8):e1003671 (2013), and is a statistic that integrates evidence from both de novo and transmitted mutations. It forms the basis for the claim of 65 individual genes being strongly associated with autism risk at a false discovery rate of 0.1 (Sanders et al. Neuron 87, 1215-1233 (2015)). The calculated TADA score for 18,665 RefSeq genes can be found in column P of Supplementary Table 6 in the Sanders et al. paper (the column headed 'tadaFdrAscSscExomeSscAgpSmallDel'), which represents a combined analysis of exome data and small de novo deletions (see www.cell.com/cms/attachment/2038545319/2052606711/mmc7.xlsx).
Original Source
Zhang D Score

Score 0.42239229295074

Ranking 1207/20870 scored genes


[Show Scoring Methodology]
The DAMAGES score (disease-associated mutation analysis using gene expression signatures), or D score, was developed to combine evidence from de novo loss-of- function mutation with evidence from cell-type- specific gene expression in the mouse brain (specifically translational profiles of 24 specific mouse CNS cell types isolated from 6 different brain regions). Genes with positive D scores are more likely to be associated with autism risk, with higher-confidence genes having higher D scores. This statistic was first presented by Zhang & Shen (Hum Mutat 38, 204- 215 (2017), and D scores for more than 20,000 RefSeq genes can be found in column M in supplementary table 2 from that paper.
Original Source
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