Cone-rod dystrophy and a frameshift mutation in the PROM1 gene.

PURPOSE: To identify the genetic cause underlying autosomal recessive cone-rod dystrophy (CORD) and high myopia. METHODS: Nine members of a consanguineous Arab family were clinically examined and were given fluorescein angiography (FA), biometry, and full field electroretinogram (ERG) testing. Blood samples were collected for DNA extraction. A homozygousity genome-wide scan was performed using >382 polymorphic microsatellite markers on genomic DNA from three affected family members. Regions of homozygosity were further analyzed in all members of the family. Mutation analysis of the PROM1 gene was performed by direct sequencing of PCR-amplified exons. RESULTS: The phenotype is characterized by severe visual impairment evident in the first decade of life. Affected family members have bull;s-eye macular appearance, peripheral retinal pigment clumps, and cone-rod type ERG changes. Additionally, they have high myopia with axial lengths exceeding 25.3 mm. A genome-wide scan detected a region of 2.1 Mb on chromosome 4p that fully segregates with the disease within the family. This region encompasses the PROML1 gene, mutations of which have been implicated in retinal dystrophies. PROML1 mutation analysis identified a novel single nucleotide insertion at position 1629 of the cDNA resulting in truncation of approximately one-third of the protein. CONCLUSIONS: The mutation described in this report further expands the clinical spectrum of PROM1 mutations.

Clinical disease among patients heterozygous for familial Mediterranean fever.

OBJECTIVE: To define the molecular basis of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) in patients with only 1 mutation in the MEFV gene. METHODS: Genetic analysis was performed in 20 FMF patients, including full sequencing of complementary DNA (cDNA) samples and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification analysis. In patients with first-degree relatives with FMF, haplotype analysis was also performed. RESULTS: A second mutation was found in 2 patients. In the other 18 patients, we could not identify additional mutations, large genomic deletions, or duplications. Analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms along the cDNA ruled out a lack of expression of 1 of the alleles. In 2 of the 3 families in which more than 1 sibling had FMF, we showed that the affected siblings inherited a different MEFV allele from the parent who did not have the MEFV mutation. CONCLUSION: These findings are highly consistent with the existence of a clinical phenotype among some patients who are heterozygous for FMF and could explain the vertical transmission in some families. A single mutation in the MEFV gene may be much more common than was previously thought and may include up to 25% of patients who are diagnosed as having FMF.

Deleterious mutations in the Zinc-Finger 469 gene cause brittle cornea syndrome.

Brittle cornea syndrome (BCS) is an autosomal-recessive disorder characterized by a thin cornea that tends to perforate, causing progressive visual loss and blindness. Additional systemic symptoms such as joint hypermotility, hyperlaxity of the skin, and kyphoscoliosis place BCS among the connective-tissue disorders. Previously, we assigned the disease gene to a 4.7 Mb interval on chromosome 16q24. In order to clone the BCS gene, we first narrowed the disease locus to a 2.8 Mb interval and systematically sequenced genes expressed in connective tissue in this chromosomal segment. We have identified two frameshift mutations in the Zinc-Finger 469 gene (ZNF469). In five unrelated patients of Tunisian Jewish ancestry, we found a 1 bp deletion at position 5943 (5943 delA), and in an inbred Palestinian family we detected a single-nucleotide deletion at position 9527 (9527 delG). The function of ZNF469 is unknown. However, a 30% homology to a number of collagens suggests that it could act as a transcription factor involved in the synthesis and/or organization of collagen fibers.

Mapping of a gene causing brittle cornea syndrome in Tunisian jews to 16q24.

PURPOSE: To map the gene that causes brittle cornea syndrome (BCS). METHODS: Five patients from four families, all of Jewish Tunisian origin, were recruited into the study. Four of the five patients had red hair. DNA from the five patients and 104 control chromosomes was typed with seven 16q polymorphic markers surrounding the hair color gene, MC1R. RESULTS: A common haplotype in the homozygous state, comprising five markers spanning 4.7 Mb on chromosome 16q24, was found in all five patients but in none of the control subjects (P < 0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: The gene that causes BCS maps to a 4.7-Mb interval, between the markers D16S3423 and D16S3425 on 16q24.

An autosomal recessive form of monilethrix is caused by mutations in DSG4: clinical overlap with localized autosomal recessive hypotrichosis.

Monilethrix is a structural defect of the hair shaft usually inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion and caused by mutations in the hHb1, hHb3, and hHb6 keratin genes. Autosomal recessive inheritance in this disease has been sporadically reported. We encountered 12 Jewish families from Iraq, Iran, and Morocco with microscopic findings of monilethrix, but with no evidence of vertical transmission. Since no mutations were found in these three hair keratin genes, we examined nine chromosomal regions containing gene clusters encoding skin and hair genes. On chromosome 18q, a common haplotype in the homozygous state was found among all seven Iraqi patients, but not in 20 controls (P<0.0001). Sequencing of the main candidate gene from this region revealed four different mutations in desmoglein 4 (DSG4). Mutations in DSG4 have been previously reported in localized autosomal recessive hypotrichosis, a disorder that shares the clinical features of monilethrix but lacks the characteristic microscopic appearance of the hair shaft. Our findings have important implications for genetic counseling to monilethrix patients and families, and suggest that DSG4-associated hair disorders may be more common than previously thought.