Mutations in C12orf57 Cause a Syndromic Form of Colobomatous Microphthalmia

• Published in: American journal of human genetics Vol. 92; no. 3; pp. 387 - 391
• Main Authors: Zahrani, Fatema, Aldahmesh, Mohammed A., Alshammari, Muneera J., Al-Hazzaa, Selwa A.F., Alkuraya, Fowzan S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 07-03-2013; Cell Press; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Animals; Brain; Brain Diseases, Metabolic, Inborn - genetics; Child; Child, Preschool; Coloboma - genetics; Convulsions & seizures; Corneal Opacity - genetics; Corpus callosum; Exome; Eye - metabolism; Eye diseases; Eye disorders; Female; Genes; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genotype & phenotype; Heterozygosity; Heterozygote; Homozygote; Humans; Intellectual Disability - genetics; Male; Mice; Microcephaly - genetics; Microphthalmia; Microphthalmos - genetics; Missense mutation; Mutation; Phenotype; Rodents; Seizures; Tissues; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0002-9297; 1537-6605
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.01.008

Microphthalmia is an important developmental eye disorder. Although mutations in several genes have been linked to this condition, they only account for a minority of cases. We performed autozygome analysis and exome sequencing on a multiplex consanguineous family in which colobomatous microphthalmia is associated with profound global developmental delay, intractable seizures, and corpus callosum abnormalities, and we identified a homozygous truncating mutation in C12orf57 [c.1A>G; p.Met1?]. In a simplex case with a similar phenotype, we identified compound heterozygosity for the same mutation and another missense mutation [c.152T>A; p.Leu51Gln]. Little is known about C12orf57 but we show that it is expressed in several mouse tissues, including the eye and brain. Our data strongly implicate mutations in C12orf57 in the pathogenesis of a clinically distinct autosomal-recessive syndromic form of colobomatous microphthalmia.