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Detection and characterization of point mutations in the choroideremia candidate gene by PCR-SSCP analysis and direct
J A van den Hurk1, T J van de Pol, C M Molloy
1Department of Human Genetics, University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
By making use of positional cloning strategies we recently isolated a candidate gene for choroideremia (CHM), which is transcribed in retina, choroid, and/or retinal pigment epithelium. The gene contains an open reading frame that is structurally altered in 10 CHM patients with sizable deletions and in a female patient with a balanced translocation involving the Xq21 band. Employing PCR-SSCP analysis and direct DNA sequencing we have now detected and characterized different point mutations in five patients with CHM. Each of these mutations introduces a termination codon into the open reading frame of the CHM candidate gene, thereby predicting a distinct truncated protein product. Together these findings provide convincing evidence for the candidate gene being identical with the choroideremia gene.