Logo image
Novel loss-of-function mutations inCOCHcause autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Novel loss-of-function mutations inCOCHcause autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss

Kevin T Booth, Amama Ghaffar, Muhammad Rashid, Luke T Hovey, Mureed Hussain, Kathy Frees, Erika M Renkes, Carla J Nishimura, Mohsin Shahzad, Richard J Smith, …
Human genetics, Vol.139(12), pp.1565-1574
12/01/2020
DOI: 10.1007/s00439-020-02197-5
PMCID: PMC7572817
PMID: 32562050
url
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/7572817View
Open Access

Abstract

COCHis the most abundantly expressed gene in the cochlea. Unsurprisingly, mutations inCOCHunderly hearing loss in mice and humans. Two forms of hearing loss are linked to mutations inCOCH, the well-established autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss, with or without vestibular dysfunction (DFNA9) via a gain-of-function/dominant-negative mechanism, and more recently autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss (DFNB110) via nonsense variants. Using a combination of targeted gene panels, exome sequencing, and functional studies, we identified four novel pathogenic variants (two nonsense variants, one missense, and one inframe deletion) inCOCHas the cause of autosomal recessive hearing loss in a multi-ethnic cohort. To investigate whether the non-truncating variants exert their effect via a loss-of-function mechanism, we used minigene splicing assays. Our data showed both the missense and inframe deletion variants altered RNA splicing by creating an exon splicing silencer and abolishing an exon splicing enhancer, respectively. Both variants create frameshifts and are predicted to result in a null allele. This study confirms the involvement of loss-of-function mutations inCOCHin autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss, expands the mutational landscape of DFNB110 to include coding variants that alter RNA splicing, and highlights the need to investigate the effect of coding variants on RNA splicing.
Genetics & Heredity Life Sciences & Biomedicine Science & Technology

Details

Metrics

Logo image