Analysis of the Ush2a Gene in Medaka Fish (Oryzias latipes)
Patients suffering from Usher syndrome (USH) exhibit sensorineural hearing loss, retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and, in some cases, vestibular dysfunction. USH is the most common genetic disorder affecting hearing and vision and is included in a group of hereditary pathologies associated with defects in ciliary function known as ciliopathies. This syndrome is clinically classified into three types: USH1, USH2 and USH3. USH2 accounts for well over one-half of all Usher cases and mutations in the USH2A gene are responsible for the majority of USH2 cases, but also for atypical Usher syndrome and recessive non-syndromic RP. Because medaka fish (Oryzias latypes) is an attractive model organism for ge…
Study of USH1 Splicing Variants through Minigenes and Transcript Analysis from Nasal Epithelial Cells
Usher syndrome type I (USH1) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by congenital profound deafness, vestibular areflexia and prepubertal retinitis pigmentosa. The first purpose of this study was to determine the pathologic nature of eighteen USH1 putative splicing variants found in our series and their effect in the splicing process by minigene assays. These variants were selected according to bioinformatic analysis. The second aim was to analyze the USH1 transcripts, obtained from nasal epithelial cells samples of our patients, in order to corroborate the observed effect of mutations by minigenes in patient’s tissues. The last objective was to evaluate the nasal ciliary beat fre…
Sequence variants of the DFNB31 gene among Usher syndrome patients of diverse origin.
Contains fulltext : 89306.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) PURPOSE: It has been demonstrated that mutations in deafness, autosomal recessive 31 (DFNB31), the gene encoding whirlin, is responsible for nonsyndromic hearing loss (NSHL; DFNB31) and Usher syndrome type II (USH2D). We screened DFNB31 in a large cohort of patients with different clinical subtypes of Usher syndrome (USH) to determine the prevalence of DFNB31 mutations among USH patients. METHODS: DFNB31 was screened in 149 USH2, 29 USH1, six atypical USH, and 11 unclassified USH patients from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Mutation detection was performed by direct sequencing of all coding exons. RESULTS: We identified 38 diff…
Improving the Management of Patients with Hearing Loss by the Implementation of an NGS Panel in Clinical Practice
A cohort of 128 patients from 118 families diagnosed with non-syndromic or syndromic hearing loss (HL) underwent an exhaustive clinical evaluation. Molecular analysis was performed using targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) with a custom panel that included 59 genes associated with non-syndromic HL or syndromic HL. Variants were prioritized according to the minimum allele frequency and classified according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guidelines. Variant(s) responsible for the disease were detected in a 40% of families including autosomal recessive (AR), autosomal dominant (AD) and X-linked patterns of inheritance. We identified pathogenic or likely pathogen…
Usher syndrome : molecular analysis of USH2 genes and development of a next-generation sequencing platform
El síndrome de Usher (USH) es una enfermedad hereditaria autosómica recesiva, caracterizada por la asociación de hipoacusia neurosensorial, retinosis pigmentaria y, en ocasiones, alteración de la función vestibular. Clínicamente, el USH se puede clasificar en tres tipos (USH1, USH2 y USH3), principalmente en base a la gravedad y progresión de la hipoacusia y presencia o no de disfunción vestibular. El USH es heterogéneo tanto a nivel clínico como genético y, hasta la fecha, se han descrito 11 genes implicados en la enfermedad. El USH2 es la forma más común y tres son los genes responsables conocidos: USH2A (72 exones), GPR98 (90 exones) y DFNB31 (12 exones). USH2A es responsable de más del …
Mutational screening of the USH2A gene in Spanish USH patients reveals 23 novel pathogenic mutations
Abstract Background Usher Syndrome type II (USH2) is an autosomal recessive disorder, characterized by moderate to severe hearing impairment and retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Among the three genes implicated, mutations in the USH2A gene account for 74-90% of the USH2 cases. Methods To identify the genetic cause of the disease and determine the frequency of USH2A mutations in a cohort of 88 unrelated USH Spanish patients, we carried out a mutation screening of the 72 coding exons of this gene by direct sequencing. Moreover, we performed functional minigene studies for those changes that were predicted to affect splicing. Results As a result, a total of 144 DNA sequence variants were identified.…
Microarray-based mutation analysis of 183 Spanish families with Usher syndrome.
PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to test the ability of the genotyping microarray for Usher syndrome (USH) to identify the mutations responsible for the disease in a cohort of 183 patients with USH. METHODS. DNA from 183 patients with Usher syndrome from the Spanish population was analyzed using a genotyping microarray containing 429 previously identified disease-associated variants in eight USH genes. Mutations detected by the array were confirmed by direct sequencing. Haplotype analysis was also performed in families carrying common Spanish mutations. RESULTS. The genotyping microarray identified 43 different variants, divided into 32 disease causative and 11 probably non-pathologic…