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Gene

FLCN

folliculin

Summary

Cytogenetic location
17p11.2
Coordinates
Chromosome 17: 17,212,212–17,237,168 (GRCh38)
Exons
14 exons across 25 kb
Protein
579 amino acids
Inheritance
Autosomal dominant
Also known as
BHD, MGC17998, MGC23445, DENND8B
MANE Select transcript
ENST00000285071.9NM_144997.7
Locus type
gene with protein product
  • Very high
  • Confident
  • Low
  • Very low

Reference genomeGRCh38

Positions on gene and variant pages follow this choice, in this browser.

Curated reports relevant to this gene

  • Birt-Hogg-Dubé Syndrome

    • Autosomal dominant

      FLCN-related syndrome of fibrofolliculomas, lung cysts with spontaneous pneumothorax, and kidney tumours (often chromophobe or oncocytic).

      • 3 GenCC submitters rate it definitive or strong
      What knowing changes

      Regular kidney MRI from early adulthood, and advice on recognising pneumothorax and on activities such as diving and flying.

    • Familial spontaneous pneumothoraxAutosomal dominant

      Inherited tendency to lung collapse without injury, often caused by FLCN variants.

      • 1 GenCC submitter rates it definitive or strong
      What knowing changes

      Awareness of pneumothorax symptoms and specialist advice about diving and air travel; kidney surveillance if an FLCN variant is found.

  • Kidney Cancer

    • Primary or metastatic malignant neoplasm involving the kidney.

      • 1 GenCC submitter rates it definitive or strong

  • Urinary and Renal System Tumour

    • Urinary System Neoplasm

      A benign or malignant, primary or metastatic neoplasm involving the urinary system.

      • 1 GenCC submitter rates it definitive or strong

Inheritance

Autosomal dominant
One changed copy, from either parent, is enough. A parent who has one passes it on to each child with a one-in-two chance.

How FLCN is laid out

  • Coding sequence
  • Untranslated region
  • Intron
  • Direction of transcription
  • Known disease-causing sites
  • Stretches short reads find hard
Chromosome 17, with a bracket where FLCN sits. FLCN and 12 genes near it on chromosome 17, from 16,724,690 to 17,724,689.Chromosome 1717p11.2p13.3p13.2p13.1p12p11.2p11.1q11.1q11.2q12q21.1q21.2q21.31q21.32q21.33q22q23.1q23.2q23.3q24.1q24.2q24.3q25.1q25.2q25.316.8 Mb17 Mb17.2 Mb17.4 Mb17.6 MbCCDC144A: 16,689,537–16,777,974, forward strandCCDC144A: 16,690,261–16,804,453, forward strandTNFRSF13B: 16,929,816–16,972,118, reverse strandTNFRSF13BMPRIP: 17,042,381–17,217,679, forward strandMPRIPPLD6: 17,200,622–17,206,369, reverse strandPLD6: 17,202,649–17,237,185, reverse strandFLCN: 17,212,212–17,237,168, reverse strandFLCNCOPS3: 17,244,686–17,281,311, reverse strandCOPS3NT5M: 17,303,316–17,347,663, forward strandNT5MMED9: 17,476,981–17,494,484, forward strandMED9RASD1: 17,494,193–17,496,402, reverse strandRASD1PEMT: 17,505,559–17,592,105, reverse strandPEMTRAI1: 17,681,323–17,811,453, forward strandRAI1Diagram of FLCN: 14 exons on the reverse strand of chromosome 17Exon 14: 15 known disease-causing sitesExon 13: 13 known disease-causing sitesExon 12: 26 known disease-causing sitesExon 11: 23 known disease-causing sitesExon 10: 12 known disease-causing sitesExon 9: 30 known disease-causing sitesExon 8: 15 known disease-causing sitesExon 7: 16 known disease-causing sitesExon 6: 26 known disease-causing sitesExon 5: 19 known disease-causing sitesExon 4: 34 known disease-causing sitesExon 14: 17,212,212–17,213,856, 1,645 basesExon 13: 17,214,985–17,215,090, 106 basesExon 12: 17,215,185–17,215,316, 132 basesExon 11: 17,216,380–17,216,503, 124 basesExon 10: 17,217,069–17,217,182, 114 basesExon 9: 17,219,019–17,219,209, 191 basesExon 8: 17,221,537–17,221,628, 92 basesExon 7: 17,222,501–17,222,661, 161 basesExon 6: 17,223,922–17,224,143, 222 basesExon 5: 17,226,176–17,226,322, 147 basesExon 4: 17,227,889–17,228,161, 273 basesExon 3: 17,231,794–17,231,882, 89 basesExon 2: 17,232,788–17,232,901, 114 basesExon 1: 17,236,912–17,237,168, 257 bases141210864215′3′

Exons of the gene's MANE Select transcript (release v1.5), from NCBI and EMBL-EBI, on the GRCh38 reference genome.

Chromosome bands from UCSC's GRCh38 ideogram (2022-10-29).

Nearby genes from Ensembl release 116, on GRCh38.

Exons make up 3.7 kb of the gene's 25 kb; 1,740 of those bases code for the protein.

How a genome test reads FLCN

268

positions in FLCN where ClinVar classes a change as pathogenic or likely pathogenic

None of them falls in a region short reads find hard.

A whole genome covers all 25 kb of FLCN, introns included, not only the 3.7 kb of exons.

Where this comes from

  • HGNC: the gene's symbol, name, other symbols and location.
  • MANE Select v1.5, from NCBI and EMBL-EBI: the transcript, its exons and coding sequence.
  • GenCC and ClinGen, released 2026-10-16: which conditions the gene is linked to, and how strongly.
  • The ACMG secondary findings list, SF v3.2.
  • ClinVar and the GIAB stratifications: known disease-causing sites, and the regions short reads find hard.
  • The Human Phenotype Ontology, release 2026-09-01: the traits linked to the gene. Find out more at hpo.jax.org.
  • Data release 2026.10.16-c6eea6bf.

Cite this page

APA

Dante Labs. (n.d.). FLCN gene: folliculin. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://dantelabs.com/genes/flcn

Vancouver

Dante Labs. FLCN gene: folliculin [Internet]. [cited 16 October 2026]. Available from: https://dantelabs.com/genes/flcn

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