PUBLICATION

Discovery and Functional Analysis of a Retinitis Pigmentosa Gene, C2ORF71

Authors
Nishimura, D.Y., Baye, L.M., Perveen, R., Searby, C.C., Avila-Fernandez, A., Pereiro, I., Ayuso, C., Valverde, D., Bishop, P.N., Manson, F.D., Urquhart, J., Stone, E.M., Slusarski, D.C., Black, G.C., and Sheffield, V.C.
ID
ZDB-PUB-100420-42
Date
2010
Source
American journal of human genetics   86(5): 686-695 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Baye, Lisa, Slusarski, Diane C.
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Blindness/genetics
  • Cilia/genetics
  • Cilia/metabolism
  • Exons
  • Eye/metabolism*
  • Eye Proteins/genetics
  • Homozygote
  • Humans
  • Mutation*
  • Mutation, Missense
  • Photoreceptor Cells, Vertebrate/metabolism*
  • Proteins/genetics*
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa/genetics*
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa/metabolism
PubMed
20398886 Full text @ Am. J. Hum. Genet.
Abstract
Retinitis pigmentosa is a genetically heterogeneous group of inherited ocular disorders characterized by progressive photoreceptor cell loss, night blindness, constriction of the visual field, and progressive visual disability. Homozygosity mapping and gene expression studies identified a 2 exon gene, C2ORF71. The encoded protein has no homologs and is highly expressed in the eye, where it is specifically expressed in photoreceptor cells. Two mutations were found in C2ORF71 in human RP patients: A nonsense mutation (p.W253X) in the first exon is likely to be a null allele; the second, a missense mutation (p.I201F) within a highly conserved region of the protein, leads to proteosomal degradation. Bioinformatic and functional studies identified and validated sites of lipid modification within the first three amino acids of the C2ORF71 protein. Using morpholino oligonucleotides to knockdown c2orf71 expression in zebrafish results in visual defects, confirming that C2ORF71 plays an important role in the development of normal vision. Finally, localization of C2ORF71 to primary cilia in cultured cells suggests that the protein is likely to localize to the connecting cilium or outer segment of photoreceptor cells.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping