Article Text
Abstract
Purpose Genetic factors play a prominent role in the pathogenesis of pathological myopia (PM). However, the exact genetic mechanism of PM remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the candidate mutation of PM in a Chinese family and explore the potential mechanism.
Methods We performed exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing in a Chinese family and 179 sporadic PM cases. The gene expression in human tissue was investigated by RT-quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and immunofluorescence. Cell apoptotic rates were tested by annexin V-APC/7AAD and flow cytometry. Psmd3 knock-in mice with point mutation were generated for measuring myopia-related parameters.
Results We screened a novel PSMD3 variant (c.689T>C; p.F230S) in a Chinese family with PM, and another rare mutation (c.1015C>A; p.L339M) was identified in 179 unrelated cases with PM. RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence confirmed the expression of PSMD3 in human eye tissue. Mutation of PSMD3 decreased the mRNA and protein expression, causing apoptosis of human retinal pigment epithelial cells. In in vivo experiments, the axial length (AL) of mutant mice increased significantly compared with that of wild-type mice (p<0.001).
Conclusions A new potential pathogenic gene, PSMD3, in a PM family was identified, and it may be involved in the elongation of AL and the development of PM.
- Eye Diseases
- Genetics
- Point Mutation
Data availability statement
All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. Not applicable.
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Data availability statement
All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. Not applicable.
Footnotes
JC and PL contributed equally.
Contributors Conceptualisation, supervision and writing (review and editing): JC, PL, SC and LL; data curation: JC, PL, JL and XH; data analysis: JC, PL, XZ and JL; investigation: JC, PL, JL and XY; methodology: JC, PL, XZ and XY; resources: JC, PL, JL and SC; visualisation: JC, PL and XZ; writing (original draft): JC and PL; LL acted as guarantor.
Funding This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong province of China (2020A1515011282), the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (202102010209) and the Fundamental Research Funds of the State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology. The sponsor or funding organisation had no role in the design or conduct of this research.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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