Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 30, 2025

Targeted Next-generation Sequencing and Bioinformatics Pipeline to Evaluate Genetic Determinants of Constitutional Disease
Published on: April 4, 2018
Novel pathogenic variants of SLC38A8 gene and literature review
Xiaofang Ren1, Lijuan Huang2, Shan Cheng3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, No.56 Nanlishi Road, Xicheng District, Beijing, 100040, China.
Purpose:
This study aimed to analyze the clinical and genetic characteristics of 6 Chinese patients with foveal hypoplasia (FH) caused by the variants of solute carrier family 38 member 8 (SLC38A8), and to describe the genotype and phenotype of SLC38A8 variants from previous literature.
Methods:
All subjects underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examinations. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed to evaluate the structural grade of FH. Pathogenic variants of SLC38A8 gene were identified using panel-based next-generation sequencing and direct Sanger sequencing techniques. Further, all previously reported cases of SLC38A8 variants were re-analyzed together with the novel ones identified in this study.
Results:
Nystagmus and FH were present in 6 patients with variants of SLC38A8 gene, accompanied by a normal anterior segment. Grade 4 FH was identified in 4 patients. A total of 12 variants of SLC38A8 gene were identified, including 9 novel variants. Systematical analysis revealed that half of the variants (30/60) were missense, the majority of which (23/30) were distributed in the transmembrane (TM) domains. Grade 4 FH was detected in the majority of patients (66%, 23/35). There was no statistical difference in the clinical features between the subgroups of patients with 0, 1 and 2 missense variants.
Conclusion:
Severe arrest of foveal development was identified in patients with variants of SLC38A8. This study provides a brief summary of the clinical and genetic characteristics of the pathogenic SLC38A8 variants, which is helpful in the differentiation diagnosis of FH.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Glucose Transporters
Facilitated diffusion-glucose transporters (GLUTs) are encoded by the solute-linked carrier (SLC) family 2, subfamily A gene family, or SLC2A. The 14 GLUT protein members are distributed into three classes:
Translation
Translation Produces the Building Blocks of Life
Proteins are...
Incomplete Dominance
Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...
Lysosomal Hydrolases

