A monoallelic gain-of-function disorder of SYK, the spleen tyrosine kinase, presenting in the first weeks of life with colitis, arthritis, dermatitis and systemic inflammation alongside an immune deficiency, and carrying a risk of diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Two things make this entry unusual and both are worth stating up front. First, the direction of the lesion is counter-intuitive. SYK sits immediately downstream of ITAM-bearing immunoreceptors in mononuclear phagocytes and B cells, and one would expect a hyperactive kinase to produce inflammation alone. It produces inflammation and immunodeficiency together, with reduced memory B cells and low immunoglobulins. The entry curates that as two branches from one node rather than picking the half that fits the intuition. Second, this is the mirror image of the ZAP70 disease already in the knowledge base. ZAP70 and SYK are the two tandem-SH2 kinases recruited to phosphorylated ITAMs; ZAP70 acts in T and NK cells, SYK in mononuclear phagocytes and B cells. Biallelic loss of ZAP70 gives a selective T cell defect. Monoallelic gain of SYK gives this. The pairing is a genuine structural fact about the pathway and is recorded in the genetic notes. The evidence base is narrow and this entry does not disguise that. The disease was defined by a single 2021 report of six patients across several families, which also built the knock-in mouse. Almost every mechanistic claim here traces to that one paper. Where a claim rests on the mouse rather than on patients, the evidence item says so through evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM, and the treatments section is explicit that SYK inhibition and bone marrow transplantation were shown in mice and not in a human trial. The gain-of-function is recorded in two places because they are two different claims, per the CLAUDE.md rule: functional_impact_category: GAIN_OF_FUNCTION on the variant's genetic_context, and modifier: GAIN_OF_FUNCTION on the kinase activity descriptor. The latter is the qualitative choice rather than INCREASED, because the variants remove the kinase from its normal autoinhibitory constraint rather than merely raising its level. No pathophysiology node declares conforms_to. kb/modules/ was searched; no module covers ITAM-proximal kinase hyperactivation.
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name: Immunodeficiency 82 With Systemic Inflammation
creation_date: "2026-09-12T13:35:00Z"
category: Mendelian
synonyms:
- IMD82
- SYK gain-of-function disease
- SYK-associated immune dysregulation
- immunodeficiency 82 with systemic inflammation, autosomal dominant
description: >-
A monoallelic gain-of-function disorder of SYK, the spleen tyrosine kinase,
presenting in the first weeks of life with colitis, arthritis, dermatitis and
systemic inflammation alongside an immune deficiency, and carrying a risk of
diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
Two things make this entry unusual and both are worth stating up front.
First, the direction of the lesion is counter-intuitive. SYK sits immediately
downstream of ITAM-bearing immunoreceptors in mononuclear phagocytes and B
cells, and one would expect a hyperactive kinase to produce inflammation alone.
It produces inflammation and immunodeficiency together, with reduced memory B
cells and low immunoglobulins. The entry curates that as two branches from one
node rather than picking the half that fits the intuition.
Second, this is the mirror image of the ZAP70 disease already in the knowledge
base. ZAP70 and SYK are the two tandem-SH2 kinases recruited to phosphorylated
ITAMs; ZAP70 acts in T and NK cells, SYK in mononuclear phagocytes and B cells.
Biallelic loss of ZAP70 gives a selective T cell defect. Monoallelic gain of
SYK gives this. The pairing is a genuine structural fact about the pathway and
is recorded in the genetic notes.
The evidence base is narrow and this entry does not disguise that. The disease
was defined by a single 2021 report of six patients across several families,
which also built the knock-in mouse. Almost every mechanistic claim here traces
to that one paper. Where a claim rests on the mouse rather than on patients,
the evidence item says so through evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM, and the
treatments section is explicit that SYK inhibition and bone marrow
transplantation were shown in mice and not in a human trial.
The gain-of-function is recorded in two places because they are two different
claims, per the CLAUDE.md rule: functional_impact_category: GAIN_OF_FUNCTION on
the variant's genetic_context, and modifier: GAIN_OF_FUNCTION on the kinase
activity descriptor. The latter is the qualitative choice rather than
INCREASED, because the variants remove the kinase from its normal
autoinhibitory constraint rather than merely raising its level.
No pathophysiology node declares conforms_to. kb/modules/ was searched; no
module covers ITAM-proximal kinase hyperactivation.
disease_term:
preferred_term: immunodeficiency 82 with systemic inflammation
term:
id: MONDO:0030308
label: immunodeficiency 82 with systemic inflammation
external_assertions:
- name: OMIM immunodeficiency 82 record
source: OMIM
assertion_type: disease_record
external_id: OMIM:619381
description: >-
OMIM phenotype identifier for immunodeficiency 82 with systemic inflammation
(IMD82), the SYK gain-of-function phenotype. Cross-checked against MONDO's own
OMIM xref for MONDO:0030308 with `just preflight-dr`, which reports
OMIM (MONDO) 619381, rather than taken from the deep-research report.
parents:
- Inborn error of immunity
- Monogenic autoinflammatory disease
inheritance:
- name: Autosomal dominant
inheritance_term:
preferred_term: Autosomal dominant
term:
id: HP:0000006
label: Autosomal dominant inheritance
description: >-
Monoallelic variants are sufficient. Transmission from an affected parent to
an affected child is documented in the defining report, in which patient 3 is
the father of patient 2 and had the same disease from two weeks of life.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "We identified damaging monoallelic SYK variants in six patients with immune deficiency, multi-organ inflammatory disease such as colitis, arthritis and dermatitis, and diffuse large B cell lymphomas."
explanation: >-
States the monoallelic genotype across the patient series.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Her father (Patient 3, age 35) had a similar disease that started at two weeks of life and was characterized by oral ulcers, fever, rash, diarrhea and failure to thrive."
explanation: >-
Documents parent-to-child transmission with a concordant phenotype.
pathophysiology:
- name: Monoallelic SYK Gain-of-Function Variants
biological_scale: MOLECULAR
description: >-
Heterozygous missense variants in SYK that increase kinase activity. The
defining series identified six patients; the variant modelled in mouse,
p.Ser550Tyr, corresponds to mouse Ser544Tyr.
genetic_context:
variant_origin: GERMLINE
functional_impact_category: GAIN_OF_FUNCTION
zygosity: HETEROZYGOUS
cell_types:
- preferred_term: mononuclear phagocyte
term:
id: CL:0000113
label: mononuclear phagocyte
- preferred_term: B cell
term:
id: CL:0000236
label: B cell
downstream:
- target: Constitutive SYK Kinase Hyperactivation
description: >-
The variant protein is more readily phosphorylated and signals more
strongly than wild-type SYK.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "We identified damaging monoallelic SYK variants in six patients with immune deficiency, multi-organ inflammatory disease such as colitis, arthritis and dermatitis, and diffuse large B cell lymphomas."
explanation: >-
Establishes the causative variants and the size of the defining series.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
directness: INDIRECT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Loss-of-function biallelic variants in ZAP70 result in human immunodeficiency characterized by a selective T cell defect (OMIM 269840) 6, while pathogenic variation of SYK has not been described in humans."
explanation: >-
Records that no pathogenic SYK variation was known before this report, which
is why the disease rests on a single defining series. Marked INDIRECT
because it establishes the novelty of the finding rather than the variants
themselves.
- name: Constitutive SYK Kinase Hyperactivation
biological_scale: MOLECULAR
description: >-
The pivotal node. SYK is the tandem-SH2 kinase recruited to phosphorylated
ITAMs of B cell receptors, Fc receptors and other immunoreceptors, and it also
transduces signals from C-type lectin receptors, Toll-like receptors and
integrins. The disease variants raise its phosphorylation and downstream
output. The modifier here is GAIN_OF_FUNCTION rather than INCREASED because
the claim is qualitative: the kinase escapes its normal regulatory constraint,
not merely that there is more signalling.
molecular_functions:
- preferred_term: SYK protein tyrosine kinase activity
modifier: GAIN_OF_FUNCTION
term:
id: GO:0004715
label: non-membrane spanning protein tyrosine kinase activity
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: immune response-regulating cell surface receptor signaling pathway
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0002768
label: immune response-regulating cell surface receptor signaling pathway
downstream:
- target: Multi-Organ Inflammatory Disease
description: >-
Excess ITAM-proximal signalling in mononuclear phagocytes drives cytokine
production and tissue inflammation.
- target: Impaired Humoral Immunity
description: >-
The same hyperactive kinase in the B cell lineage is associated with reduced
memory B cells and low immunoglobulins, so the inflammatory and deficiency
branches share one upstream node.
- target: B Cell Lymphomagenesis
description: >-
Sustained SYK signalling in the B cell lineage is the proposed route to
diffuse large B cell lymphoma in these patients.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: IN_VITRO
snippet: "The SYK variants increased phosphorylation and enhanced downstream signaling, indicating gain of function."
explanation: >-
The direct functional demonstration that these variants are activating,
which is the claim of this node.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "These kinases are (1) the ζ-chain-associated protein kinase of 70 kDa (ZAP70), which is primarily expressed in T cells and natural killer cells, and (2) the spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK), which is primarily expressed in mononuclear phagocytes (MNPs), B cells and, to a lesser extent, the intestinal epithelium."
explanation: >-
Establishes where SYK acts, which is what makes the mononuclear phagocyte
and B cell branches downstream of this node the expected ones.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "SYK is also involved in signaling cascades from receptors without ITAMs, including C-type lectin receptors, Toll-like receptors and integrins 1,2."
explanation: >-
Supports the breadth of receptor input described in this node, which bears
on why the inflammation is multi-organ rather than restricted to one
receptor system.
- name: Multi-Organ Inflammatory Disease
biological_scale: ORGANISM
description: >-
Systemic and tissue-specific inflammation from the first weeks of life: colitis
with colonic ulceration and chronic inflammatory histology, arthritis,
dermatitis and rash, vasculitis, and a raised acute-phase response with
elevated C-reactive protein and interleukin-6.
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: inflammatory response
modifier: INCREASED
term:
id: GO:0006954
label: inflammatory response
cell_types:
- preferred_term: mononuclear phagocyte
term:
id: CL:0000113
label: mononuclear phagocyte
downstream:
- target: Colitis
- target: Arthritis
- target: Skin rash
- target: Vasculitis
- target: Elevated circulating C-reactive protein concentration
- target: Diarrhea
- target: Fever
- target: Anal fistula
- target: Failure to thrive
- target: Pulmonary inflammation
description: >-
Three of the six patients had lung involvement in the multi-tissue
inflammatory picture.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "All Patients had inflammation in multiple tissues including bowel (Patients 1–6), skin (Patients 1–5), joints (Patients 1–3 and 6), lung (Patients 2, 5, 6), central nervous system (Patients 4 and 5) and granulomatous liver disease (Patient 6)."
explanation: Names lung among the inflamed tissues and lists the affected patients.
- target: Neuroinflammation
description: >-
Two of the six patients had central nervous system involvement in the same
multi-tissue inflammatory picture.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "All Patients had inflammation in multiple tissues including bowel (Patients 1–6), skin (Patients 1–5), joints (Patients 1–3 and 6), lung (Patients 2, 5, 6), central nervous system (Patients 4 and 5) and granulomatous liver disease (Patient 6)."
explanation: Names the central nervous system among the inflamed tissues.
- target: Hepatic granulomatosis
description: >-
One of the six patients had granulomatous liver disease.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "All Patients had inflammation in multiple tissues including bowel (Patients 1–6), skin (Patients 1–5), joints (Patients 1–3 and 6), lung (Patients 2, 5, 6), central nervous system (Patients 4 and 5) and granulomatous liver disease (Patient 6)."
explanation: Names granulomatous liver disease and the single affected patient.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Colonoscopy at 17 months of age revealed multiple ulcers in the colon (Fig. 1a) with histologic features consistent with chronic colitis (Fig. 1b)."
explanation: >-
Documents the colitis with endoscopic and histological confirmation.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Laboratory tests showed normal white blood cell (WBC) counts but elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), high level of serum Interleukin (IL)-6, and reduced serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG (Fig. 1e and Supplementary Table 1)."
explanation: >-
Documents the acute-phase response and, in the same sentence, the
immunoglobulin deficiency that defines the other branch.
- name: Impaired Humoral Immunity
biological_scale: ORGANISM
description: >-
The immunodeficiency branch, and the part of this disease that is least
intuitive given an activating kinase variant. Patients have reduced memory B
cells and low serum IgM and IgG, with recurrent infections; one patient in the
defining series died of infectious complications before her third birthday.
cell_types:
- preferred_term: B cell
term:
id: CL:0000236
label: B cell
downstream:
- target: Decreased circulating IgG concentration
- target: Decreased circulating IgM concentration
- target: Recurrent infections
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Patients 2 and 3 both have reduced memory B cells (Supplementary Table 4)."
explanation: >-
Documents the memory B cell deficit underlying this node.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "The patient passed away before her 3rd birthday due to complications from an infection."
explanation: >-
Records the clinical consequence of the immunodeficiency, which is what
makes this branch more than a laboratory observation.
- name: B Cell Lymphomagenesis
biological_scale: CELLULAR
description: >-
Diffuse large B cell lymphoma occurred in the defining series. SYK is a
known oncogenic driver in B cell malignancy, so sustained hyperactive
signalling in the B cell lineage is the proposed route. This entry records the
association and the proposed mechanism; the causal step from the germline
variant to the lymphoma is not separately demonstrated in that report, and the
node description says so rather than implying it.
cell_types:
- preferred_term: B cell
term:
id: CL:0000236
label: B cell
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "multi-organ inflammatory disease such as colitis, arthritis and dermatitis, and diffuse large B cell lymphomas"
explanation: >-
Records the lymphoma occurring within the defining patient series.
downstream:
- target: B-cell lymphoma
description: >-
Two of the four adult patients in the founding cohort developed diffuse large
B cell lymphoma, which is the clinical endpoint of this arm.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "we identified diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCL) at a comparatively young age in two of the four adult patients (P5 and P6) with pathogenic SYK variants."
explanation: >-
Reports the lymphoma outcome in the cohort, which is what connects this
node to its phenotype.
phenotypes:
- category: Gastrointestinal
name: Colitis
description: >-
Very-early-onset colitis with colonic ulceration and chronic inflammatory
histology, presenting within the first weeks to months of life.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Chronic colitis
term:
id: HP:0002583
label: Colitis
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Colonoscopy at four weeks of age revealed ulcers in the cecum with features of chronic inflammation."
explanation: >-
Documents the colitis with endoscopic confirmation in a second patient.
- category: Musculoskeletal
name: Arthritis
description: >-
Inflammatory arthritis with joint pain and swelling, developing in infancy and
persisting into adulthood in the affected parent.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Inflammatory arthritis
term:
id: HP:0001369
label: Arthritis
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "She also developed perianal fistulas (Fig. 1c) and arthritis indicated by joint pain and swelling of her hands (Fig. 1d)."
explanation: >-
Documents the arthritis and its clinical basis.
- category: Dermatologic
name: Skin rash
description: >-
Whole-body rash from the neonatal period, part of the dermatitis reported
across the series.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Whole body rash
term:
id: HP:0000988
label: Skin rash
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "presented at 2 weeks of age with fever, whole body rash and non-bloody diarrhea (5–8 times per day)"
explanation: >-
Documents the neonatal-onset rash.
- category: Vascular
name: Vasculitis
description: >-
Generalized vasculitis reported in the neonatal presentation of one patient.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Generalized vasculitis
term:
id: HP:0002633
label: Vasculitis
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "presented at two weeks of age with whole body rash, generalized vasculitis (Fig. 1g) and diarrhea"
explanation: >-
Documents the vasculitis at presentation.
- category: Gastrointestinal
name: Diarrhea
description: >-
Non-bloody diarrhea from the neonatal period, a presenting feature in several
patients.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Chronic diarrhea
term:
id: HP:0002014
label: Diarrhea
temporality: CHRONIC
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "non-bloody diarrhea (5–8 times per day)"
explanation: >-
Documents the diarrhea and its frequency.
- category: Constitutional
name: Fever
description: >-
Recurrent fever as part of the systemic inflammatory presentation.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Recurrent fever
term:
id: HP:0001945
label: Fever
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "was characterized by oral ulcers, fever, rash, diarrhea and failure to thrive"
explanation: >-
Documents fever as part of the clinical picture in the affected parent.
- category: Gastrointestinal
name: Anal fistula
description: >-
Perianal fistulas, a fistulising complication of the colitis.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Perianal fistula
term:
id: HP:0010447
label: Anal fistula
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "She also developed perianal fistulas (Fig. 1c)"
explanation: >-
Documents the perianal fistulas.
- category: Constitutional
name: Failure to thrive
description: >-
Significant growth failure, reported in the index patient and in the affected
parent as a child.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Growth failure
term:
id: HP:0001508
label: Failure to thrive
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "She had significant growth failure (Fig. 1f) and recurrent infections."
explanation: >-
Documents the growth failure alongside the infection susceptibility.
- category: Laboratory
name: Elevated circulating C-reactive protein concentration
description: >-
Raised acute-phase response, with elevated C-reactive protein recorded
repeatedly and accompanied by high serum interleukin-6.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Elevated C-reactive protein
term:
id: HP:0011227
label: Elevated circulating C-reactive protein concentration
reports_on:
- target: Multi-Organ Inflammatory Disease
relationship: READOUT_OF
description: >-
The acute-phase response is a systemic laboratory readout of the
inflammatory node rather than a separate disease consequence.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "By 15 months of age, she developed arthritis (Fig. 1h) with worsening colitis and multiple episodes of elevated CRP and WBC counts (Fig. 1i and Supplementary Table 2)."
explanation: >-
Documents repeated elevation of C-reactive protein alongside clinical
flares.
- category: Immunologic
name: Decreased circulating IgG concentration
description: >-
Reduced serum IgG, part of the humoral deficiency that coexists with the
inflammation.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Reduced serum IgG
term:
id: HP:0004315
label: Decreased circulating IgG concentration
reports_on:
- target: Impaired Humoral Immunity
relationship: READOUT_OF
description: >-
Serum immunoglobulin measurement is the laboratory readout of the humoral
deficiency node.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "reduced serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG"
explanation: >-
Documents the reduction in serum IgG.
- category: Immunologic
name: Decreased circulating IgM concentration
description: >-
Reduced serum IgM, measured alongside the IgG deficiency.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Reduced serum IgM
term:
id: HP:0002850
label: Decreased circulating total IgM
reports_on:
- target: Impaired Humoral Immunity
relationship: READOUT_OF
description: >-
Serum immunoglobulin measurement is the laboratory readout of the humoral
deficiency node.
notes: >-
The bound label is the one in cache/hp/terms.csv, "Decreased circulating total
IgM", which is what term validation enforces and what the five existing KB
entries using this CURIE carry. A live OLS lookup of HP:0002850 returns
"Decreased circulating IgM concentration" instead, so HPO appears to have
renamed the term since the cache row was written. Recorded here rather than
silently resolved either way, because the cache-first validator makes the
live label the one that fails.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "reduced serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG"
explanation: >-
Documents the reduction in serum IgM.
- category: Immunologic
name: Recurrent infections
description: >-
Susceptibility to infection, fatal in the index patient. The affected parent
was diagnosed as a child with an undefined immunodeficiency and advised
against live vaccines.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Recurrent infections
term:
id: HP:0002719
label: Recurrent infections
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "As a child he was diagnosed with an undefined immunodeficiency with reduced CD4+ T cell counts and low immunoglobulins (Supplementary Table 3) and was advised against using live vaccines."
explanation: >-
Documents the clinical immunodeficiency and its management consequence.
- category: Neoplasm
name: B-cell lymphoma
description: >-
Diffuse large B cell lymphoma at unusually young age. This is the name-defining
malignancy risk of SYK gain of function and the reason the source paper
recommends haematological surveillance.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: diffuse large B cell lymphoma
term:
id: HP:0012191
label: B-cell lymphoma
frequency: FREQUENT
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "we identified diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCL) at a comparatively young age in two of the four adult patients (P5 and P6) with pathogenic SYK variants."
explanation: >-
The source states 2 of the 4 adult patients, which is 50 percent; across the
whole reported cohort of six it is 2/6, which is 33 percent. Both land in the
FREQUENT band (30-79 percent), so the band does not turn on which denominator
is used. The risk is nonetheless age-conditioned: every reported lymphoma was
in an adult, and the band should not be read as a lifetime risk from infancy.
- category: Respiratory
name: Pulmonary inflammation
description: >-
Lung involvement as part of the multi-tissue inflammatory disease, reported in
three of the six patients. The source names the organ without characterising the
pattern radiologically or histologically.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: pulmonary inflammation
frequency: FREQUENT
notes: >-
Deliberately left unbound. HPO was searched via the OLS adapter for pulmonary
inflammation, lung inflammation, pneumonitis and abnormal pulmonary terms; the
candidates returned are all narrower than the source supports
(HP:0006515 Interstitial pneumonitis, HP:0002113 Pulmonary infiltrates) or are
morphological rather than inflammatory (HP:0002088 Abnormal lung morphology).
The source says only that the lung was among the inflamed tissues, so binding any
of these would manufacture specificity the paper does not claim.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "All Patients had inflammation in multiple tissues including bowel (Patients 1–6), skin (Patients 1–5), joints (Patients 1–3 and 6), lung (Patients 2, 5, 6), central nervous system (Patients 4 and 5) and granulomatous liver disease (Patient 6)."
explanation: >-
Names lung among the inflamed tissues in Patients 2, 5 and 6, which is 3/6 or
50 percent, inside the FREQUENT band (30-79 percent).
- category: Neurologic
name: Neuroinflammation
description: >-
Central nervous system involvement as part of the multi-tissue inflammatory
disease, reported in two of the six patients.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: central nervous system inflammation
term:
id: HP:0033429
label: Neuroinflammation
frequency: FREQUENT
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "All Patients had inflammation in multiple tissues including bowel (Patients 1–6), skin (Patients 1–5), joints (Patients 1–3 and 6), lung (Patients 2, 5, 6), central nervous system (Patients 4 and 5) and granulomatous liver disease (Patient 6)."
explanation: >-
Names the central nervous system among the inflamed tissues in Patients 4 and
5, which is 2/6 or 33 percent, inside the FREQUENT band (30-79 percent).
- category: Hepatic
name: Hepatic granulomatosis
description: >-
Granulomatous liver disease, reported in one of the six patients.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: granulomatous liver disease
term:
id: HP:0011955
label: Hepatic granulomatosis
frequency: OCCASIONAL
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "All Patients had inflammation in multiple tissues including bowel (Patients 1–6), skin (Patients 1–5), joints (Patients 1–3 and 6), lung (Patients 2, 5, 6), central nervous system (Patients 4 and 5) and granulomatous liver disease (Patient 6)."
explanation: >-
Names granulomatous liver disease in Patient 6 alone, which is 1/6 or 17
percent, inside the OCCASIONAL band (5-29 percent).
genetic:
- name: SYK
gene_term:
preferred_term: SYK
term:
id: hgnc:11491
label: SYK
relationship_type: CAUSATIVE
notes: >-
SYK and ZAP70 are the two tandem-SH2 kinases recruited to phosphorylated ITAMs
and are functionally paired: ZAP70 acts principally in T and NK cells, SYK in
mononuclear phagocytes and B cells. The two diseases are mirror images -
biallelic ZAP70 loss of function gives a selective T cell defect, monoallelic
SYK gain of function gives this disorder. dismech already carries a
ZAP70_Deficiency entry; the pairing is why this entry's cell types are
phagocyte and B cell rather than T cell.
The variant modelled in mouse is the human p.Ser550Tyr, corresponding to mouse
Ser544Tyr.
Allelic series across the six reported patients: p.S550Y (Patient 1, de novo),
p.S550F (Patients 2 and 3), p.P342T (Patient 4, de novo), p.A353T (Patient 5)
and p.M450I (Patient 6). The positions group into three structural classes that
the source distinguishes: p.S550 sits close to the two activation-loop tyrosines
and away from the ATP pocket; p.M450 sits close to the ATP-binding pocket; and
p.P342T and p.A353T sit in the interdomain B linker that holds SYK
auto-inhibited. All are novel or very rare and carry CADD scores above 25.
ClinVar accessions SCV001450452 to SCV001450456 are cited by the source.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Loss-of-function biallelic variants in ZAP70 result in human immunodeficiency characterized by a selective T cell defect (OMIM 269840) 6, while pathogenic variation of SYK has not been described in humans."
explanation: >-
States the ZAP70 contrast described in the notes and, in the same sentence,
that SYK disease was previously unknown.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "In this study we identify monoallelic gain-of-function variants in SYK that result in immunodeficiency and systemic inflammatory disease in humans"
explanation: >-
States the causative gene-disease relationship in humans. Quoted to the human
clause only: the rest of the sentence reports the mouse result, and the animal
model cites that half separately as MODEL_ORGANISM. One sentence cannot carry
two evidence_source values, so each item quotes the clause it is graded on.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "We next screened for additional SYK variants in a number of patient registries and found 3 additional patients with potential monoallelic damaging variants in evolutionary conserved residues of SYK (p.P342T, p.A353T and p.M450I)."
explanation: >-
Source for the three further alleles beyond the p.S550 pair, and for the fact
that they were ascertained from registries rather than the index family.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: IN_VITRO
snippet: "The p.P342T and p.A353T variants are located in the linker region (interdomain B) that maintains SYK in an auto-inhibited conformation"
explanation: >-
Source for the structural rationale recorded in the notes: these two alleles
act by releasing autoinhibition rather than at the ATP pocket or activation
loop. Graded IN_VITRO because the claim rests on the paper's structural and
biochemical characterisation rather than on a patient observation.
animal_models:
- name: SYK Ser544Tyr knock-in mouse
species: Mouse
genotype: Syk p.Ser544Tyr knock-in, corresponding to human p.Ser550Tyr
publication: PMID:33782605
description: >-
A knock-in of the mouse residue equivalent to a patient variant, made in the
defining study. Unlike many immunodeficiency models it reproduces substantial
parts of the human disease, which is what makes the treatment experiments in
it interpretable.
modeled_mechanisms:
- target: Multi-Organ Inflammatory Disease
relationship: PARTIALLY_RECAPITULATES
fidelity: MODERATE
model_scale: ORGANISM
description: >-
Reproduces aspects of the human inflammatory disease from the orthologous
point variant, at the whole-organism scale.
limitations: >-
The authors' own wording is that the model recapitulates "aspects of" the
human disease, not the whole of it, and the report does not claim the
lymphoma phenotype is reproduced. It is one knock-in of one of the several
patient variants, so it does not speak to allelic heterogeneity.
divergences:
- divergence_type: SPECIES_MISMATCH
materiality: QUALIFYING
description: >-
The engineered residue is the mouse equivalent (Ser544) of the human
residue (Ser550), so the model tests the orthologous substitution rather
than the human allele itself. Global Syk knockout is perinatally lethal in
mouse, indicating that murine SYK dosage requirements are not identical to
human.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "A knock-in (SYK-Ser544Tyr) mouse model of a patient variant (p.Ser550Tyr) recapitulated aspects of the human disease that could be partially treated with a SYK inhibitor or transplantation of bone marrow from wild-type mice."
explanation: >-
States both the recapitulation and its limits, and is the source for the
two treatment records below.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "show that the expression of one of these variants in a mouse model replicates major aspects of the human immunopathology"
explanation: >-
Attests that this model is informative for the human disease.
treatments:
- name: SYK kinase inhibition
description: >-
Pharmacological inhibition of the hyperactive kinase, the mechanistically
obvious treatment and the one the defining study tested. R406, the active
metabolite of fostamatinib, occupies the ATP-binding pocket and competes with
free ATP. In the knock-in mouse this partially treated the disease.
therapeutic_modality: SMALL_MOLECULE
treatment_term:
preferred_term: SYK kinase inhibitor therapy
term:
id: NCIT:C15986
label: Pharmacotherapy
therapeutic_agent:
- preferred_term: fostamatinib
term:
id: NCIT:C95222
label: Fostamatinib
target_mechanisms:
- target: Constitutive SYK Kinase Hyperactivation
description: >-
Competitive ATP-site inhibition reduces the kinase activity at the node
immediately downstream of the genetic lesion. This is the one treatment here
that acts on the causal node rather than on its consequences.
notes: >-
Efficacy is demonstrated in the knock-in mouse and was partial there. This
entry records no human trial evidence, because the defining report describes
none. The phrase "potentially treatable" is the authors' own and is quoted
below rather than upgraded.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "A knock-in (SYK-Ser544Tyr) mouse model of a patient variant (p.Ser550Tyr) recapitulated aspects of the human disease that could be partially treated with a SYK inhibitor or transplantation of bone marrow from wild-type mice."
explanation: >-
Reports partial treatment response in the mouse model. Graded
MODEL_ORGANISM, and the word "partially" is retained in the quote rather
than paraphrased away.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: IN_VITRO
snippet: "R406, the active metabolite of fostamatinib, attaches to the ATP-binding pocket of SYK and sterically competes with free ATP to inhibit SYK kinase activity9."
explanation: >-
Establishes the molecular mechanism by which the agent acts on the target
node.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
directness: INDIRECT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Our studies demonstrate that SYK gain-of-function variants result in a potentially treatable form of inflammatory disease."
explanation: >-
The authors' own summary claim. Marked INDIRECT deliberately: "potentially
treatable" is a forward-looking statement resting on the mouse experiment,
not a report of human treatment.
- name: Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
description: >-
Replacement of the affected haematopoietic compartment. Because SYK acts in
mononuclear phagocytes and B cells, which are haematopoietic, transplantation
is mechanistically curative in principle. Transplantation of wild-type bone
marrow partially treated the knock-in mouse.
therapeutic_modality: CELL_THERAPY
treatment_term:
preferred_term: hematopoietic cell transplantation
term:
id: NCIT:C15431
label: Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
target_mechanisms:
- target: Monoallelic SYK Gain-of-Function Variants
description: >-
Replaces the variant-carrying haematopoietic cells with wild-type cells,
removing the lesion from the lineages in which it acts. Unlike kinase
inhibition this addresses the genetic node itself, but only in the
haematopoietic compartment - the report notes SYK expression in intestinal
epithelium as well.
notes: >-
Shown in the mouse model, not in a reported human series. The mechanistic
caveat above is real: the same report records SYK expression in intestinal
epithelium, which a haematopoietic transplant would not replace.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "could be partially treated with a SYK inhibitor or transplantation of bone marrow from wild-type mice"
explanation: >-
Reports the partial response to wild-type bone marrow transplantation in the
knock-in mouse.
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
directness: INDIRECT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "which is primarily expressed in mononuclear phagocytes (MNPs), B cells and, to a lesser extent, the intestinal epithelium"
explanation: >-
Supports the rationale for a haematopoietic transplant while naming the
non-haematopoietic compartment it would not address. Marked INDIRECT because
it describes expression rather than a treatment result.
- name: Haematological malignancy surveillance
description: >-
Regular screening for haematological malignancy in patients with a suspected or
confirmed SYK gain-of-function variant. This is the source paper's explicit
management directive and follows from the lymphoma risk recorded above, not from
any trial.
treatment_term:
preferred_term: haematological malignancy screening
term:
id: NCIT:C15406
label: Cancer Screening
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "patients with suspected SYK gain-of-function variants should be regularly screened for hematological malignancies."
explanation: >-
The authors' stated recommendation, quoted rather than paraphrased into a
stronger claim. No screening interval or modality is specified by the source
and none is invented here.
notes: >-
Recorded as a surveillance recommendation, not an intervention with an outcome.
No study evaluates whether screening changes outcome in this disease.
diagnosis:
- name: Constitutive SYK phosphorylation assay
description: >-
Spontaneous tyrosine phosphorylation of SYK Y525/526 in unstimulated patient
PBMC, used as the functional confirmation that a candidate variant is activating.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: IN_VITRO
snippet: "PBMC from Patients 1 and 3 showed spontaneous tyrosine phosphorylation of Y525/526 SYK, tyrosine residues known to regulate auto-phosphorylation and activation"
explanation: >-
Documents the confirmatory assay and the residues read out. Graded IN_VITRO
because the measurement is made on cultured patient cells.
prevalence:
- population: Worldwide
measure_type: CASES_IN_LITERATURE
prevalence_class: ULTRA_RARE
notes: >-
An ultra-rare entity defined in 2021. The founding report describes six patients
from the combined index family and three patient registries, and no population
frequency has been estimated. No rate is recorded because a denominator would
have to be invented.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "We identified damaging monoallelic SYK variants in six patients with immune deficiency, multi-organ inflammatory disease such as colitis, arthritis and dermatitis, and diffuse large B cell lymphomas."
explanation: >-
Establishes the size of the entire reported cohort, which is what the
CASES_IN_LITERATURE measure reports.
references:
- reference: PMID:33782605
title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
discussions:
- discussion_id: syk_gof_inflammation_and_deficiency_together
kind: OPEN_QUESTION
status: OPEN
prompt: >-
How does a single activating kinase variant produce immunodeficiency and
systemic inflammation at the same time?
attaches_to:
- pathophysiology#Constitutive SYK Kinase Hyperactivation
- pathophysiology#Impaired Humoral Immunity
rationale: >-
A gain-of-function variant in a proximal immunoreceptor kinase predicts
inflammation, and that is observed. It does not obviously predict reduced
memory B cells, low IgM and IgG, and fatal infection, and those are observed
too, in the same patients.
Several accounts are compatible with the curated evidence and none is
established by it. Chronically hyperactive B cell receptor signalling could
drive anergy or deletion rather than productive responses, in which case the
deficiency is a downstream consequence of the same excess. The deficiency
could instead be secondary to the inflammatory disease itself - protein loss
through an ulcerated colon, or the effect of chronic inflammation on
lymphopoiesis. Or the two could be genuinely independent effects of SYK in
different lineages. The distinction matters for treatment: if the deficiency
is driven by excess signalling then kinase inhibition should improve it,
whereas if it is a consequence of tissue damage it should follow the colitis
instead.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "We identified damaging monoallelic SYK variants in six patients with immune deficiency, multi-organ inflammatory disease such as colitis, arthritis and dermatitis, and diffuse large B cell lymphomas."
explanation: >-
Establishes that deficiency and inflammation co-occur in the same patients,
which is the fact this question is about.
- discussion_id: syk_gof_single_defining_series
kind: KNOWLEDGE_GAP
status: OPEN
prompt: >-
What is the phenotypic spectrum of SYK gain-of-function disease beyond the six
patients of the defining series?
attaches_to:
- disease#Immunodeficiency 82 With Systemic Inflammation
rationale: >-
Essentially every mechanistic and clinical claim in this entry traces to one
2021 report of six patients. That is enough to establish the disease and not
enough to establish its range: penetrance, the proportion of carriers who
develop lymphoma, whether milder adult-onset presentations exist, and whether
the other patient variants behave like the one modelled in mouse are all
unaddressed.
This is recorded as a knowledge gap rather than left implicit because it
changes how the rest of the entry should be read. A reader should treat the
phenotype list here as the presentation of one ascertained series, not as a
frequency distribution over the disease.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:33782605
reference_title: "Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation in humans and mice."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "while pathogenic variation of SYK has not been described in humans"
explanation: >-
Records that this report was the first description, which is why no
independent series exists to compare against.
Deep research results are used as seeds for research; they do not undergo the same validation as the main records and may contain errors. How we use deep research.
Create: Immunodeficiency 82 With Systemic Inflammation (SYK, MONDO:0030308) · 2026-09-12T14:11:22Z · View source
De novo curation of IMD82, monoallelic SYK gain-of-function disease, from claim issue #11740. The entry models one upstream node, constitutive SYK kinase hyperactivation, branching into three: multi-organ inflammatory disease, impaired humoral immunity, and B cell lymphomagenesis. The second branch is the counter-intuitive one and is curated rather than dropped: an activating variant in a proximal immunoreceptor kinase predicts inflammation, and these patients also have reduced memory B cells, low IgM and IgG, and fatal infection. An OPEN_QUESTION discussion sets out the candidate explanations and says none is established by the curated evidence. Gain of function is recorded in both places the CLAUDE.md rule requires, because they are two claims: functional_impact_category GAIN_OF_FUNCTION on the variant genetic_context, and modifier GAIN_OF_FUNCTION on the kinase activity descriptor. The modifier is the qualitative value rather than INCREASED because the variants remove the kinase from normal autoinhibitory constraint rather than merely raising its level. Evidence base. Essentially the whole entry rests on one 2021 report of six patients. That is recorded as a KNOWLEDGE_GAP rather than left implicit, because it changes how the phenotype list should be read: it is the presentation of one ascertained series, not a frequency distribution. Both treatments carry evidence_source MODEL_ORGANISM and notes stating that efficacy was shown in the knock-in mouse and was partial there, with no human trial reported. The authors' phrase potentially treatable is quoted rather than upgraded, and is marked directness INDIRECT because it is a forward-looking claim resting on the mouse. Deep research required two runs and the first was discarded. The first openscientist report for this disease contained zero mentions of SYK and fifty of RIPK1: an entirely different disease. just preflight-dr returned FAIL and correctly said to discard it rather than cherry-pick. Re-running returned the identical report from the local deep-research cache in 0.01 seconds with cached true, because the cache is keyed on the query and the query was correct; the provider had simply answered the wrong question. Recovery required evicting the specific cache entry by hand, after which the re-run produced a correct report with 98 SYK mentions, zero RIPK1, a preflight PASS, and an OMIM number matching MONDO. Both the provider failure and the absence of a supported cache-bust path are filed as issue #11748; the off-target report and its cache entry are preserved outside the repository. The corrected report was read and deliberately not mined for additional citations. Its reference list is padded with general SYK biology that is not about this disease: mantle cell lymphoma BCR signalling, a SYK chemical-genetics mouse. Adding those would have inflated the apparent evidence base of an entry whose honest state is one source, which is the opposite of what the KNOWLEDGE_GAP records. One binding correction during curation: cache/hp/terms.csv holds HP:0002850 as Decreased circulating total IgM while a live OLS lookup returns Decreased circulating IgM concentration. Term validation is cache-first, so the live label failed. The cached label was used, matching the five existing KB entries that bind this CURIE, and the discrepancy is recorded in the phenotype notes and filed as issue #11750. Validation: just validate passed with 35/35 snippets verified; just validate-terms passed; check-duplicate-keys, check-entity-refs, check-causal-targets, check-qualifier-terms and check-snippet-length all clean.
Target Disease: Immunodeficiency 82 With Systemic Inflammation OMIM: #619381 · MONDO: MONDO:0030308 · Causal gene: SYK (HGNC:11491) Category: Mendelian (monogenic inborn error of immunity)
Immunodeficiency 82 with systemic inflammation (IMD82) is an ultra-rare, autosomal dominant inborn error of immunity (IEI) caused by germline heterozygous gain-of-function (GOF) missense variants in SYK (spleen tyrosine kinase). The disease was defined in 2021 by Wang and colleagues, who identified damaging monoallelic SYK variants in six patients presenting with a distinctive triad: immune deficiency, multi-organ inflammatory disease (colitis, arthritis, dermatitis), and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (PMID: 33782605). The variants increase SYK phosphorylation and enhance downstream signaling, establishing a gain-of-function mechanism.
Mechanistically, SYK is normally held in an autoinhibited conformation in which its tandem SH2 (tSH2) domain and interdomain linkers constrain the kinase domain. Binding of phosphorylated immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (pITAMs) plus autophosphorylation switches SYK to its active state (PMID: 23154170). IMD82 variants bias SYK toward the active conformation, producing constitutive ITAM-based signaling through PLCγ2, PI3K–AKT, MAPK/ERK, and NF-κB. This single hyperactive-kinase lesion simultaneously drives the inflammatory arm (excess cytokine/immune-cell activation) and the malignant arm (sustained pro-survival BCR/PI3K signaling that predisposes B cells to lymphoma).
Because the driver is a druggable, hematopoietically restricted kinase, IMD82 is potentially treatable. A knock-in Syk-Ser544Tyr mouse (modeling the patient variant p.Ser550Tyr) recapitulated key disease features that could be partially corrected either with a SYK inhibitor or with transplantation of wild-type bone marrow (PMID: 33782605). Fostamatinib, an FDA-approved oral SYK inhibitor (approved for chronic immune thrombocytopenia), provides a clinically available agent whose mechanism directly matches the disease lesion. Diagnosis relies on next-generation sequencing (whole-exome/whole-genome sequencing or IEI gene panels) with confirmatory functional testing of elevated SYK phosphorylation/downstream signaling. Only ~6 patients have been reported worldwide, so much of the clinical natural history remains to be defined.
Wang et al. (2021, Nature Genetics) identified damaging monoallelic (heterozygous) SYK variants in six patients. Functional assays demonstrated that the variants increased SYK phosphorylation and enhanced downstream signaling, formally establishing a gain-of-function (rather than loss-of-function) mechanism and an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. This is the defining genetic feature of the disease and is catalogued as OMIM #619381 / MONDO:0030308.
"We identified damaging monoallelic SYK variants in six patients with immune deficiency, multi-organ inflammatory disease such as colitis, arthritis and dermatitis, and diffuse large B cell lymphomas. The SYK variants increased phosphorylation and enhanced downstream signaling, indicating gain of function." — PMID: 33782605
This finding is notable because most SYK-related disease hypotheses historically concerned loss of function; IMD82 is a rare instance where a kinase gain-of-function drives a combined immunodeficiency-plus-autoinflammation syndrome.
Crystal structures of full-length SYK reveal an autoinhibited conformation in which the tandem SH2 (tSH2) domain and interdomain linkers restrain kinase activity. Binding of phosphorylated ITAMs to the tSH2 domain, together with autophosphorylation of interdomain-A tyrosines (e.g., Y348/Y352), switches SYK to the active conformation and strongly stimulates in vitro autophosphorylation (PMID: 23154170). IMD82 patient variants (e.g., p.Ser550Tyr, and residues in the interdomain-A/kinase regions) constitutively bias this switch toward the active state, producing elevated basal phosphorylation and downstream signaling.
"Here, we present the first crystal structures of full-length Syk (fl-Syk) as wild type and as Y348F,Y352F mutant forms in complex with AMP-PNP revealing an autoinhibited conformation." — PMID: 23154170
"The functional relevance of pITAM binding to fl-Syk was confirmed by a strong stimulation of in vitro autophosphorylation." — PMID: 23154170
This provides a clear structural rationale for the disease: the GOF variants relieve the molecular brake that normally couples SYK activation to receptor engagement.
SYK is the proximal kinase that transduces signals from the B-cell receptor (BCR) and Fc/C-type-lectin receptors into downstream PI3K–AKT, PLCγ2, MAPK/ERK, and NF-κB cascades (PMID: 35398488; PMID: 38503806). Sustained/tonic PI3K-pathway signaling downstream of SYK promotes B-cell survival rather than negative selection, and high SYK/BCR signaling activity predicts aggressive B-cell lymphoma behavior. This mechanistically unifies the two seemingly disparate arms of IMD82 — chronic multi-organ inflammation and predisposition to DLBCL — under a single constitutively active kinase.
"ZAP70 diverts SYK from activation of NFAT towards tonic PI3K-signaling, which promotes survival instead of cell death" — PMID: 35398488
In mantle cell lymphoma, higher BCR/SYK signaling responses correlate with shorter progression-free and overall survival, underscoring that SYK signaling intensity is a determinant of malignant aggressiveness (PMID: 38503806).
In the defining cohort of six patients, the phenotype combined immune deficiency with multi-organ inflammatory disease — colitis (HP:0002583), arthritis (HP:0001369), and dermatitis (HP:0011123) — plus diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (HP:0004297) (PMID: 33782605). Onset is typically in childhood, frequently as a very-early-onset inflammatory-bowel-disease-like presentation. IMD82/SYK is incorporated into the formal IUIS Inborn Errors of Immunity classification framework used for diagnosis (PMID: 41608114).
"immune deficiency, multi-organ inflammatory disease such as colitis, arthritis and dermatitis, and diffuse large B cell lymphomas" — PMID: 33782605
"This report provides an updated classification of inborn errors of immunity (IEIs) involving 508 different genes and 17 phenocopies." — PMID: 41608114
Only ~6 patients were reported in the defining publication, and no population prevalence/incidence estimates exist (ultra-rare). Inheritance is autosomal dominant (monoallelic/heterozygous variants), consistent with both de novo and inherited transmission. Diagnosis relies on next-generation sequencing (WES/WGS or IEI gene panels), as used across monogenic VEO-IBD and IEI cohorts, with confirmatory functional assays demonstrating elevated SYK phosphorylation/downstream signaling (PMID: 33782605).
"We identified damaging monoallelic SYK variants in six patients" — PMID: 33782605
A knock-in Syk-Ser544Tyr mouse (modeling patient variant p.Ser550Tyr) recapitulated aspects of the human disease that could be partially treated with a SYK inhibitor or with transplantation of wild-type bone marrow (PMID: 33782605). Fostamatinib is an FDA-approved oral SYK inhibitor (approved for chronic ITP), making targeted pharmacotherapy immediately plausible.
"A knock-in (SYK-Ser544Tyr) mouse model of a patient variant (p.Ser550Tyr) recapitulated aspects of the human disease that could be partially treated with a SYK inhibitor or transplantation of bone marrow from wild-type mice." — PMID: 33782605
SYK GOF variant (e.g. p.Ser550Tyr)
│ disrupts
▼
Autoinhibited SYK ──X──► Constitutively ACTIVE SYK
(tSH2 brake) │ hyper-signaling
▼
┌──────────── ITAM-coupled receptor cascades ────────────┐
│ PLCγ2 · PI3K–AKT · MAPK/ERK · NF-κB │
└──────────────┬───────────────────────┬──────────────────┘
│ │
BRANCH A (inflammation) BRANCH B (survival)
cytokines, immune tonic PI3K–AKT →
dysregulation B-cell survival
│ │
▼ ▼
Colitis, arthritis, Diffuse large B-cell
dermatitis + immune lymphoma (DLBCL)
deficiency
│ │
└──── TREATABLE via ─────┘
SYK inhibitor (fostamatinib) │ WT BMT/HSCT
IMD82 is a Mendelian inborn error of immunity in which a single hyperactive kinase produces a combined phenotype of immunodeficiency, systemic autoinflammation, and B-cell lymphoma predisposition. - Key identifiers: OMIM #619381; MONDO:0030308; causal gene SYK (HGNC:11491). Orphanet, ICD-10/ICD-11, and MeSH-specific codes are not clearly established for this ultra-rare 2021-defined entity; it maps within IEI/combined immunodeficiency-with-associated-features categories. - Synonyms: "Immunodeficiency 82 with systemic inflammation"; "SYK gain-of-function disease"; "SYK-GOF immune dysregulation." - Information source: Aggregated disease-level resources (OMIM, IUIS classification) built from an individual-patient case series (n≈6) rather than large EHR datasets.
| Phenotype | Type | HPO | Onset | Frequency (n≈6 cohort) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colitis / IBD-like enteropathy | Clinical sign | HP:0002583 | Childhood/very-early-onset | Core feature |
| Arthritis | Clinical sign | HP:0001369 | Childhood | Core feature |
| Dermatitis | Physical manifestation | HP:0011123 | Childhood | Core feature |
| Immunodeficiency (infection susceptibility) | Clinical/lab | HP:0002715 | Childhood | Core feature |
| Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma | Neoplasm | HP:0004297 | Childhood–young adult | Reported in cohort |
Severity is variable and can be severe/refractory; progression includes both chronic inflammation and episodic flares plus a serious oncologic complication (DLBCL). Quality-of-life impact is substantial (chronic multi-organ inflammation, malignancy risk, treatment burden), though formal EQ-5D/SF-36 data are unavailable for this ultra-rare disease (PMID: 33782605).
No established environmental, lifestyle, or infectious causes. The disease is monogenic. Because SYK sits downstream of pattern-recognition and Fc/C-type-lectin receptors, microbial and antigenic exposures are plausible amplifiers of inflammation but are not demonstrated drivers.
Presented above as the ordered causal chain and schematic. In brief: a SYK GOF variant disrupts kinase autoinhibition → constitutive ITAM-coupled signaling (PLCγ2, PI3K–AKT, MAPK/ERK, NF-κB) → branches into (A) multi-organ autoinflammation with paradoxical immunodeficiency and (B) tonic PI3K–AKT survival signaling predisposing to DLBCL. Key molecular pathways: B-cell receptor signaling (Reactome/KEGG), Fc receptor signaling, PI3K–AKT, MAPK, NF-κB. Cellular processes: inflammation, dysregulated lymphocyte/myeloid activation, and suppressed apoptosis/enhanced survival of B cells. Immune involvement spans both immunodeficiency and chronic inflammation — a hallmark of immune-dysregulation IEIs.
No formal survival statistics exist for this ultra-rare entity. Prognosis is shaped by (a) severity/refractoriness of multi-organ inflammation and (b) the serious complication of DLBCL, which historically carries substantial mortality. The identification of a druggable, hematopoietically restricted target materially improves the outlook, since SYK inhibition or HSCT can address the root cause (mouse-model rescue, PMID: 33782605). Prognostic biomarkers plausibly include SYK/BCR signaling intensity, given its correlation with aggressive B-cell lymphoma behavior (PMID: 38503806).
| PMID | Title (abbrev.) | Role in this report |
|---|---|---|
| 33782605 | Gain-of-function variants in SYK cause immune dysregulation and systemic inflammation (Nat Genet 2021) | Defining paper. Establishes monoallelic SYK GOF, clinical triad, mouse model, and therapeutic rescue (SYK inhibitor / WT BMT). |
| 23154170 | Structural and biophysical characterization of the Syk activation switch | Structural basis: full-length SYK autoinhibition and the pITAM/autophosphorylation activation switch disrupted by GOF variants. |
| 35398488 | SYK and ZAP70 kinases in autoimmunity and lymphoid malignancies | Mechanistic link: SYK-driven tonic PI3K signaling promotes survival over cell death — basis for lymphoma predisposition. |
| 38503806 | BCR signaling activity identifies higher-risk MCL patients | High SYK/BCR signaling predicts aggressive B-cell lymphoma behavior; supports Branch B. |
| 41608114 | Human inborn errors of immunity: 2024 IUIS update | Situates IMD82/SYK within the formal IEI classification used for diagnosis. |
| 42026764 | Syk inhibition limits autoimmunity in B-cell TRAF3-deficient mice | Class-level support that fostamatinib corrects SYK-driven B-cell dysfunction/autoimmunity. |
| 40903253 | Future directions in warm AIHA management | Fostamatinib as an established, efficacious SYK inhibitor in immune disease. |
| 40962713 | Fostamatinib and acute aortic dissection in ITP | Safety caveat for chronic SYK inhibition. |
| 31356155 | Chemical-genetics SYK mouse model | Complementary tool confirming SYK-dependent BCR signaling. |
| 25682127 | SYK molecular evolution in lamprey | Evolutionary conservation of SYK tandem-SH2/kinase architecture. |
Evidence-source types: Human clinical (PMID 33782605 case series; IUIS classification 41608114); model organism (33782605 mouse; 42026764; 31356155); in vitro/structural (23154170; 35398488); lymphoma clinical correlation (38503806).
Report compiled from 6 confirmed findings and 32 reviewed papers over 5 investigation iterations. Evidence source types are distinguished throughout as human clinical, model organism, in vitro/structural, or computational.
Checked with linkml-reference-validator 0.2.1.
| Outcome | Count |
|---|---|
| References checked | 18 |
| Resolved | 18 |
| Unresolved (possible confabulation) | 0 |
| Unverifiable | 0 |
| References weighed for topical relevance | 18 |
| On topic | 12 |
| Off topic | 0 |
All extracted references resolved successfully.
Checked with linkml-term-validator 0.4.5, through the ols: adapter.
| Outcome | Count |
|---|---|
| Terms checked | 22 |
| Resolved | 21 |
| Unresolved (possible confabulation) | 0 |
| Obsolete | 0 |
| Unverifiable | 1 |
| Terms whose name was checked | 20 |
| Terms named correctly | 10 |
| Terms named as a different term | 4 |
| Terms whose name is worth a second look | 6 |
These identifiers resolve, so nothing about them looks wrong, and the ontology calls them something unrelated to what the report calls them. That usually means the identifier is not the one the sentence needs:
HP:0001369 (3 mentions) - the report calls it "arthritis", "Clinical sign"; HP calls it ArthritisHP:0011123 (3 mentions) - the report calls it "inflammatory abnormality of the skin / dermatitis", "Physical manifestation"; HP calls it Inflammatory abnormality of the skinHP:0004297 (3 mentions) - the report calls it "diffuse large B-cell lymphoma", "neoplasm of the immune system / lymphoma", "Neoplasm"; HP calls it Abnormality of the biliary systemHP:0002715 (2 mentions) - the report calls it "abnormality of the immune system / immunodeficiency", "Clinical/lab"; HP calls it Abnormality of the immune systemThe report's name for these is recognisably related to the term's own name without being one of them. A loose paraphrase reads the same way as a citation of the wrong sibling term - and so does a related synonym, which the ontology records precisely because it names something adjacent rather than the same thing - so these are listed rather than judged:
HP:0002583 (3 mentions) - the report calls it "colitis", "Clinical sign"; HP calls it ColitisGO:0038094 (1 mention) - the report calls it "Fc receptor signaling"; GO calls it Fc-gamma receptor signaling pathwayCL:0000236 (2 mentions) - the report calls it "B cell", "Cell populations: B lymphocytes"; CL calls it B cell**, and lists "B lymphocyte" among its other namesGO:0005886 (2 mentions) - the report calls it "plasma membrane / receptor-proximal"; GO calls it plasma membraneUBERON:0002097 (2 mentions) - the report calls it "skin"; UBERON calls it skin of body, and lists "skin" among its other namesUBERON:0002509 (2 mentions) - the report calls it "lymphoid tissue"; UBERON calls it mesenteric lymph node, and lists "nodi lymphoidei mesenterici" among its other namesThe report gives these identifiers more than one name of its own:
HGNC:11491 - called "SYK", "Gene/protein:* SYK"HP:0002583 - called "colitis", "Clinical sign"HP:0001369 - called "arthritis", "Clinical sign"HP:0011123 - called "inflammatory abnormality of the skin / dermatitis", "Physical manifestation"HP:0004297 - called "diffuse large B-cell lymphoma", "neoplasm of the immune system / lymphoma", "Neoplasm"CL:0000236 - called "B cell", "Cell populations:** B lymphocytes"HP:0002715 - called "abnormality of the immune system / immunodeficiency", "Clinical/lab"