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Novel frameshift mutations in CRX associated with Leber congenital amaurosis.

Mutations in CRX, a photoreceptor-specific transcription factor, can cause Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), cone-rod dystrophy (CORD), and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), all of which feature severe visual impairment. Upon screening 55 patients with Leber congenital amaurosis, 75 patients with cone-rod dystrophy, 13 with cone dystrophy, and 36 with recessive or isolate RP for changes in the CRX sequence, we found two patients with Leber congenital amaurosis who carried heterozygously one of two novel frameshift mutations. The first mutation, Tyr191(1-bp del), was a de novo change and the second change, Pro263(1-bp del) was inherited from the proband's affected father. Both mutations are predicted to encode mutant versions of CRX with altered carboxy termini. We also found a previously reported missense mutation, Arg41Gln, heterozygously in a 47-year-old patient with a form of RP. The missense change Val242Met was found in an isolate case of CORD and no controls; however, its pathogenicity remains uncertain because only limited segregation analysis was possible. A nonpathogenic missense change, Ala158Thr, was found to be a variant present at relatively high frequency among African-Americans.

DNA↗

[Progressive dystrophy of the cones].

The 31-year-old female patient preserved photophobia, learning tiredness, pigmentary remaniations in the macular region to both eyes. With emphasis on the right eye. The photopic visual field shows a paracentral scotoma, 4 degrees inferior at the right eye, without the modification of the peripheric isopters. The darkness adaptation curve is monophasic, with reduction and delay of the alpha angulation. The chromatic sensation exam shows protanomaly. Angiographically, isolated macular lesions with the pigmentary epithelium atrophy and the persistency of the fluorescein in late venous time are confirmed. A genetic deficit of the membrane receptors, at the level of the pigmentary epithelium cells, might explain the selective dystrophia of the cone cells. The different renewal process of cones, compared to the stick cells, stays at the origin of selectively separated pathological processes.

Adult↗

[Simplified electroretinography protocol and diagnosis of retinal dystrophies in children].

PURPOSE: To report results of a simplified electroretinogram in children. PATIENTS: 124 children under 6 years of age with nystagmus, blindness, neurological disease, cone rod dystrophy in the family, or abnormal fundus appearance were examined. METHOD: The electroretinogram was recorded by corneal electrodes in an awake state without sedation. A light-emitting orange diode stimulator was used. Stimulation was performed subsequently after 3 minutes of light adaptation and after 8 minutes of darkness. If the electroretinogram was abnormal, a second recording was done a few weeks later using the same method. In some cases, the children were re-examined, and a ganzfeld stimulation ERG was recorded. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: This method allowed a reliable diagnosis of photoreceptor dystrophy: Leber's congenital amaurosis with or without rare metabolic diseases, X link pigmentary retinopathy or retinal dystrophy with general disease in children. It helped to differentiate isolated retinal pigment changes with normal electroretinogram from functional retinal impairment and rod-cone dystrophy from other retinal dystrophies.

Adaptation, Ocular↗

Leber congenital amaurosis: comprehensive survey of the genetic heterogeneity, refinement of the clinical definition, and genotype-phenotype correlations as a strategy for molecular diagnosis.

Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is the earliest and most severe form of all inherited retinal dystrophies, responsible for congenital blindness. Disease-associated mutations have been hitherto reported in seven genes. These genes are all expressed preferentially in the photoreceptor cells or the retinal pigment epithelium but they are involved in strikingly different physiologic pathways resulting in an unforeseeable physiopathologic variety. This wide genetic and physiologic heterogeneity that could largely increase in the coming years, hinders the molecular diagnosis in LCA patients. The genotyping is, however, required to establish genetically defined subgroups of patients ready for therapy. Here, we report a comprehensive mutational analysis of the all known genes in 179 unrelated LCA patients, including 52 familial and 127 sporadic (27/127 consanguineous) cases. Mutations were identified in 47.5% patients. GUCY2D appeared to account for most LCA cases of our series (21.2%), followed by CRB1 (10%), RPE65 (6.1%), RPGRIP1 (4.5%), AIPL1 (3.4%), TULP1 (1.7%), and CRX (0.6%). The clinical history of all patients with mutations was carefully revisited to search for phenotype variations. Sound genotype-phenotype correlations were found that allowed us to divide patients into two main groups. The first one includes patients whose symptoms fit the traditional definition of LCA, i.e., congenital or very early cone-rod dystrophy, while the second group gathers patients affected with severe yet progressive rod-cone dystrophy. Besides, objective ophthalmologic data allowed us to subdivide each group into two subtypes. Based on these findings, we have drawn decisional flowcharts directing the molecular analysis of LCA genes in a given case. These flowcharts will hopefully lighten the heavy task of genotyping new patients but only if one has access to the most precise clinical history since birth.

Blindness↗

[Leber congenital amaurosis: comprehensive survey of genetic heterogeneity. A clinical definition update].

Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is the earliest and most severe form of all inherited retinal dystrophies, responsible for congenital blindness. Disease-associated mutations have been hitherto reported in seven genes. These genes are all expressed preferentially in the photoreceptor cells or the retinal pigment epithelium, but they are involved in strikingly different physiologic pathways, resulting in an unforeseeable pathophysiologic variety. This broad genetic and physiologic heterogeneity, which could greatly increase in the coming years, hinders molecular diagnosis in LCA patients. Genotyping is, however, required to establish genetically defined subgroups of patients ready for therapy. Here we report a comprehensive mutational analysis of all the known genes in 179 unrelated LCA patients, including 52 familial and 127 sporadic (27/127 consanguineous) cases. Mutations were identified in 47.5% of patients. GUCY2D accounted for by far the largest part of the LCA cases in our series (21.2%), followed by CRB1 (10%), RPE65 (6.1%), RPGRIP1 (4.5%), AIPL1 (3.4%), TULP1 (1.7%) and CRX (0.6%). The clinical history of all patients with mutations was carefully revisited in the search for phenotype variations. Genotype-phenotype correlations were found that made it possible to divide patients into two main groups. The first one includes patients whose symptoms fit the traditional definition of LCA, i.e., congenital or very early cone-rod dystrophy, while the second group gathers patients affected with severe yet progressive rod-cone dystrophy. In addition, objective ophthalmologic data subdivided each group into two subtypes. Based on these findings, we have drawn decisional flowcharts directing the molecular analysis of LCA genes in a given case. These flowcharts will hopefully lighten the onerous task of genotyping new patients, but only if the most precise clinical history since birth is available.

Animals↗

Leber congenital amaurosis.

Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) is the earliest and most severe form of all inherited retinal dystrophies responsible for congenital blindness. Genetic heterogeneity of LCA has been suspected since the report by Waardenburg of normal children born to affected parents. In 1995, we localized the first disease causing gene, LCA1, to chromosome 17p13 and confirmed the genetic heterogeneity. In 1996, we ascribed LCA1 to mutations in the photoreceptor-specific guanylate cyclase gene (retGC1). RetGC1 is an essential protein implicated in the phototransduction cascade, especially in the recovery of the dark state after the excitation process of photoreceptor cells by light stimulation. In 1997, mutations in a second gene were reported in LCA, the RPE65 gene, which is the first specific retinal pigment epithelium gene. The protein RPE65 is implicated in the metabolism of vitamin A, the precursor of the photoexcitable retinal pigment (rhodopsin). Finally, a third gene, CRX, implicated in photoreceptor development, has been suspected of causing a few cases of LCA. Taken together, these three genes account for only 27% of LCA cases in our series. The three genes encode proteins that are involved in completely different physiopathologic pathways. Based on these striking differences of physiopathologic processes, we reexamined all clinical physiopathological discrepancies and the results strongly suggested that retGC1 gene mutations are responsible for congenital stationary severe cone-rod dystrophy, while RPE65 gene mutations are responsible for congenital severe but progressive rod-cone dystrophy. It is of tremendous importance to confirm and to refine these genotype-phenotype correlations on a large scale in order to anticipate the final outcome in a blind infant, on the one hand, and to further guide genetic studies in older patients on the other hand.

Animals↗

Diagnosis and classification of macular degenerations: an approach based on retinal function testing.

The results from literature concerning some aspects of retinal function in macular degenerations (MDs) were reviewed in order to evaluate whether (a) specific patterns of retinal dysfunction may be linked to different clinical phenotypes, and (b) distinct functional profiles may help in orienting molecular diagnosis of diseases. Examined clinical phenotypes included: Stargardt disease/fundus flavimaculatus (St/FF), age-related maculopathy (ARM) and macular degeneration (AMD), pattern dystrophies (PD), Best vitelliform dystrophy (BVD), Sorsby's fundus dystrophy (SFD), autosomal cone-rod dystrophies (CRD). The following functional tests were evaluated: (1) electroretinogram (ERG) (scotopic and photopic according to ISCEV standards, rod and cone photoresponses, rod and cone b-wave intensity-response function, focal ERGs); (2) dark adaptometry (pre-bleach sensitivity and post-bleach recovery kinetics); (3) fundus reflectometry (pigment density and regeneration kinetics). Specific patterns of retinal dysfunction were identified for St/FF, ARM/AMD, SFD and BVD, whereas partially overlapping profiles were found for PD and CRD. Specific functional patterns were associated with different peripherin/RDS gene mutations, as well as with CRX mutations. Combined analysis of different retinal function tests may help to identify different phenotypes of MD, and to orient molecular diagnosis for selected genotypes.

Electroretinography↗

Ocular findings in a Japanese family with an Arg41Trp mutation of the CRX gene.

PURPOSE: To characterize the ophthalmological features and clinical course of an autosomal dominant cone-rod dystrophy (CORD2) in a Japanese family with an Arg41Trp mutation in the CRX gene. METHODS: Mutation screening by direct sequencing was performed on 42 patients with cone-rod dystrophy. The clinical features of the patients were characterized by the visual acuity and by the findings of slit-lamp biomicroscopy, electroretinography, fluorescein angiography, and kinetic visual field testing. RESULTS: An Arg41Trp mutation in the CRX gene was identified in three members from three generations of one family with cone-rod dystrophy. Fundus examination demonstrated that the retinal dystrophy worsened with increasing age. CONCLUSIONS: A heterozygous Arg41Trp mutation in the CRX gene can produce cone-rod dystrophy in Japanese patients. Clinical examination of patients of different ages demonstrated that there was a rapid progressive worsening of the disease with increasing age.

Adult↗

Electroretinography and temporal aspects in macular dystrophy.

In a family with cone-rod dystrophy of autosomal recess inheritance, the diagnosis was established by characteristic abnormalities of the ERG, which demonstrates cone responses reduced in amplitude and delayed in implicit time, and rod delayed implicit time in two sisters with macular degeneration. The abnormalities of the implicit time are seen also in two other sisters of the propositi, who are clinically normal. The hypothesis that they are only capable to transmit the gene defect to their offspring is advanced.

Electroretinography↗

[The Nagel anomaloscope in the diagnosis of eye diseases].

The Nagel anomaloscope can be incorporated in the diagnosis of eye diseases. Three parameters are relevant: 1. The measure of the absolute matching range (scale units) 2. The preferred direction of the widened matching range (to red or to green) 3. The luminance matches with the yellow (decreasing matches indicating a pathologic scotopisation). - Six pathologic anomaloscope findings can be differentiated: 1. Pseudoprotanomaly (retinal diseases; type III acquired blue-yellow defects) 2. Symmetrically widened absolute matching range (reduced hue discrimination without reference to its etiopathology) 3. Absolute matching range asymmetrically widened to red with scotopisation (retinal diseases; type III acquired blue-yellow defects or type I acquired red-green defects) or without scotopisation (retinal diseases or optic nerve diseases; type III acquired blue-yellow defects) 4. Absolute matching range asymmetrically widened to green (mostly optic nerve diseases; type II acquired red-green defects) 5. Acceptance of both end matches ("0" up to "73") with scotopisation (retinal diseases) or without scotopisation (optic nerve diseases) 6. Achromatic matches (selective cone diseases, such as Stargardt's dystrophy or progressive cone dystrophy). Indications for anomaloscope examinations and clinical application of the method are discussed in ten cases. The utility of the Rayleigh-equation consists in diagnosing pathologic scotopisation (differential diagnosis between retinal diseases and optic nerve diseases) and in making a quantitative evaluation of the acquired color vision defect (follow-up examination).

Color Perception Tests↗

Interference of Crx-dependent transcription by ataxin-7 involves interaction between the glutamine regions and requires the ataxin-7 carboxy-terminal region for nuclear localization.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of a polyglutamine tract in the ataxin-7 protein. A unique feature of SCA7 is degeneration of photoreceptor cells in the retina, resulting in cone-rod dystrophy. In an SCA7 transgenic mouse model that we developed, it was found that the cone-rod dystrophy involves altered photoreceptor gene expression due to interference with Crx, a homeodomain transcription factor containing a glutamine-rich region. To determine the basis of the Crx-ataxin-7 interaction, Crx and ataxin-7 truncation and point mutants were generated, and the ability of mutant versions of either protein to co-immunoprecipitate the normal version of the other protein was tested. Thus Crx's ataxin-7 interaction domain was localized to its glutamine-rich region and ataxin-7's Crx binding domain was mapped to its glutamine tract. The importance of each protein's respective glutamine region for a productive interaction was confirmed by performing Crx transactivation assays in HEK293 cells and correlating the extent of Crx transcription interference with the intactness of each protein's glutamine region. It was also established that ataxin-7 must localize to the nucleus to repress Crx transactivation, and the likely nuclear localization signals were mapped to ataxin-7's carboxy-terminal region. Finally, using chromatin immunoprecipitation, it was demonstrated that Crx and ataxin-7 engage in a functionally significant interaction by co-occupying the promoter and enhancer regions of Crx-regulated retinal genes in vivo. The results suggest that one mechanism of SCA7 disease pathogenesis is transcription dysregulation, and that Crx transcription interference is a predominant factor in SCA7 cone-rod dystrophy retinal degeneration.

Animals↗