Is MERTK p.Arg651Ter (c.1951C>T) pathogenic?

MERTK p.Arg651Ter (c.1951C>T) is classified Pathogenic in MERTK (ClinVar, Multiple submitters, 6 submitters; last evaluated 2025-03-17). Very rare (popmax 0.00627%, nfe); Associated with MERTK-related disorder.

What condition is associated with MERTK p.Arg651Ter (c.1951C>T)?

MERTK p.Arg651Ter (c.1951C>T) is associated with MERTK-related disorder, retinitis pigmentosa 38, inherited retinal dystrophy (ClinVar).

How common is MERTK p.Arg651Ter (c.1951C>T) in the general population?

MERTK p.Arg651Ter (c.1951C>T) is very rare (popmax 0.00627%, nfe) (gnomAD).

MERTK p.Arg651Ter

c.1951C>T · rs119489105 · VCV5402

Pathogenic Multiple submitters

Classification

Pathogenic

ClinVar

Review

Multiple submitters ★★☆☆

ClinVar · 6 submitters

Consequence

nonsense (stop-gain)

predicted LoF

gnomAD v4.1

Rare

very rare (popmax 0.00627%, nfe)

Conditions

MERTK-related disorder

Computational evidence

Protein change
Missense predictors do not apply to this variant type; conservation/SpliceAI carries the signal.
Consequence	nonsense (stop-gain)	predicted loss-of-function
NMD	predicted	premature termination codon in exon 14 of 19
Splicing
SpliceAI	Δ0.26	donor loss · deltas
Pangolin	Δ0.29	loss · gain 0.02 · agrees with SpliceAI · independent
Constraint at this position
Conservation	phyloP 0.34	GERP -1.9, phastCons 0.97
Overall
CADD	44.0	PHRED · no single calibrated threshold — expert panels disagree

Predicted loss-of-function is descriptive, not an applied PVS1 code.

Population frequency

gnomAD v4.1 · exomes + genomes

Grpmax group 0.00627% European (non-Finnish) · 74/1,179,570 alleles

Filtering AF 0.00511% ClinGen BA1/BS1 input FAF95, joint · FAF99 0.00468%

Overall 0.00465% 75/1,613,540 alleles · very rare

Ancestry group	Frequency	1 in
European (non-Finnish)grpmax	0.00627%	15,940
South Asian	0.0011%	91,078

Rarity supports pathogenicity (ACMG PM2); frequency above a disease-specific BA1/BS1 threshold argues against it. A variant frequent in one ancestry group can be near-absent in others, so a single global figure can mislead.

Variant & gene context

Gene: MERTK
Protein: p.Arg651Ter
Coding: c.1951C>T
MANE Select: NM_006343
dbSNP: rs119489105
Type: single nucleotide variant
Location: chr2:112008466 (GRCh38)
Gene constraint: LOEUF 0.787 · pLI <0.01 (gnomAD)
Structure: AlphaFold pLDDT 72.78 · 42 PDB
Residue 651: an α-helix; the protein kinase domain

Full MERTK gene report on Sugi Atlas → Gene function, pathways, protein structure, interactions & more

Disease context

MERTK-related disorder

Also linked: retinitis pigmentosa 38 inherited retinal dystrophy retinitis pigmentosa

Similar variants

MERTK c.1296+1G>A Pathogenic/Likely pathogenic ★★ same condition
MERTK c.1605-2A>G Pathogenic ★★ same condition
MERTK c.1787-2A>T Pathogenic/Likely pathogenic ★★ same condition
MERTK c.1867+1G>A Likely pathogenic ★★ same condition
MERTK c.1868-1G>A Pathogenic ★★ same condition
MERTK c.2189+1G>T Pathogenic ★★ same condition
MERTK p.Ala768Thr Pathogenic/Likely pathogenic ★★ same condition
MERTK p.Ala768Val Likely pathogenic ★★ same condition

Built on 18 open, versioned datasets — ClinVar, gnomAD, AlphaMissense, REVEL, ClinGen & more — plus Sugi Variant's own cross-source analysis. Source data 2026-01–2026-10, ClinVar 2026-10. Full sources & versions →

Cite Sugi Variant

Gür T. Sugi Variant: A Deterministic Per-Variant Germline Reference from a Knowledge Graph for Humans and AI Agents. 2026. doi:10.5281/zenodo.21509445. This variant: https://sugi.bio/variant/mertk-p-arg651ter (accessed [today's date]).

Preprint & method: sugi.bio/variant/method Machine-readable: this page as Markdown