PUBLICATION
Loss of Gap Junction Delta-2 (GJD2) gene orthologs leads to refractive error in zebrafish
- Authors
- Quint, W.H., Tadema, K.C.D., de Vrieze, E., Lukowicz, R.M., Broekman, S., Winkelman, B.H.J., Hoevenaars, M., de Gruiter, H.M., van Wijk, E., Schaeffel, F., Meester-Smoor, M., Miller, A.C., Willemsen, R., Klaver, C.C.W., Iglesias, A.I.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-210605-2
- Date
- 2021
- Source
- Communications biology 4: 676 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- de Vrieze, Erik, Iglesias, Adriana, Miller, Adam
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Retina/metabolism
- Retina/pathology
- Zebrafish/genetics*
- Zebrafish/metabolism
- Mutation*
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
- Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
- Animals
- Myopia/genetics
- Connexins/genetics*
- Connexins/metabolism
- Gene Expression Profiling/methods
- Cataract/genetics
- Retinal Pigment Epithelium/metabolism
- Retinal Pigment Epithelium/pathology
- Single-Cell Analysis/methods
- Humans
- Refractive Errors/genetics*
- RNA-Seq/methods
- Disease Models, Animal*
- Eye Proteins/genetics*
- Eye Proteins/metabolism
- PubMed
- 34083742 Full text @ Commun Biol
Citation
Quint, W.H., Tadema, K.C.D., de Vrieze, E., Lukowicz, R.M., Broekman, S., Winkelman, B.H.J., Hoevenaars, M., de Gruiter, H.M., van Wijk, E., Schaeffel, F., Meester-Smoor, M., Miller, A.C., Willemsen, R., Klaver, C.C.W., Iglesias, A.I. (2021) Loss of Gap Junction Delta-2 (GJD2) gene orthologs leads to refractive error in zebrafish. Communications biology. 4:676.
Abstract
Myopia is the most common developmental disorder of juvenile eyes, and it has become an increasing cause of severe visual impairment. The GJD2 locus has been consistently associated with myopia in multiple independent genome-wide association studies. However, despite the strong genetic evidence, little is known about the functional role of GJD2 in refractive error development. Here, we find that depletion of gjd2a (Cx35.5) or gjd2b (Cx35.1) orthologs in zebrafish, cause changes in the biometry and refractive status of the eye. Our immunohistological and scRNA sequencing studies show that Cx35.5 (gjd2a) is a retinal connexin and its depletion leads to hyperopia and electrophysiological changes in the retina. These findings support a role for Cx35.5 (gjd2a) in the regulation of ocular biometry. Cx35.1 (gjd2b) has previously been identified in the retina, however, we found an additional lenticular role. Lack of Cx35.1 (gjd2b) led to a nuclear cataract that triggered axial elongation. Our results provide functional evidence of a link between gjd2 and refractive error.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping