(Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 2001;42:2225-2228.)
© 2001
by The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.
Locus for Autosomal Recessive Nonsyndromic Persistent Hyperplastic Primary Vitreous
Shagufta Khaliq1,
Abdul Hameed1,
Muhammad Ismail1,
Khalid Anwar1,
Bart Leroy2,
Annette M. Payne2,
Shomi S. Bhattacharya2 and
S. Qasim Mehdi1
1 From the Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, Biomedical and Genetic Engineering Division, Islamabad, Pakistan; and the
2 Department of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, United Kingdom.
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Abstract
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PURPOSE. To map the disease locus in a six-generation, consanguineous
Pakistani family affected by nonsyndromic autosomal recessive
persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (arPHPV). All affected
individuals had peripheral anterior synechiae and corneal opacities
with variable degrees of cataract and a retrolenticular white mass
behind the lens.
METHODS. Genomic DNA from family members was typed for alleles at more than 400
known polymorphic genetic markers, by polymerase chain reaction.
Alleles were assigned to individuals, which allowed calculation of lod
scores.
RESULTS. A maximum two-point lod score of 4.07 was obtained with marker D10S1225
with no recombination. Two recombinations with marker D10S208 and
D10S537 localized the disease within a region of approximately 30
centimorgans (cM). However, homozygosity across the region refined the
arPHPV locus to 13 cM.
CONCLUSIONS. Linkage analysis shows localization of nonsyndromic arPHPV to
chromosome10q11-q21.
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Introduction
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During embryonic development of the eye, the compartment
between the retina and crystalline lens contains a vascular system
(hyaloid artery) that provides the building blocks of nutrients for the
developing eye. As the eye and its vascular system mature in the
embryo, the hyaloid system regresses. Before this, during the fourth
month of embryonic development, the hyaloid artery gives off retinal
branches, and the proximal portion persists in the adult as the central
artery of the retina.1
In some cases, the primary vitreous
fails to regress in utero, resulting in a congenital anomaly often
called persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV),2
or persistent fetal vasculature (PFV). The latter, more general term
includes all possible combinations of fetal vascular remnants remaining
in both anterior and posterior segments of the eye.3
A study on childhood blindness and visual loss performed at an
institution for visually impaired individuals in the United States
showed that the 4.8% of blind persons had PHPV.4
Usually,
it is unilateral, although bilateral cases have been described. Highly
vascular mesenchymal tissue nurtures the developing lens during
intrauterine life. In PHPV the mesenchymal tissue forms a mass behind
the lens, and the lens subsequently becomes cataractous. PHPV is a
congenital disorder with several different possible ocular
manifestations, ranging from persistent pupillary membrane, Mittendorf
dot, leukocoria due to cataract or a retrolental membrane, and
Bergmeister papilla to congenital nonattachment of the retina and even
microphthalmia.3
5
PHPV usually occurs as a nonheritable,
unilateral eye disorder in an otherwise normal child.3
It
has also been reported in association with other anomalies, including
neurologic disorders,6
Walker-Warburg
syndrome,7
trisomy 13,8
Norrie
disease,9
tuberous sclerosis,10
and
osteoporosispseudoglioma syndrome.11
Conditions that may
mimic PHPV include familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR),
incontinentia pigmenti, retinoblastoma, and retinopathy of prematurity.
Few reports have been published on inherited forms of isolated
PHPV.12
13
14
15
Up to now, no locus for isolated PHPV has been
mapped, and no candidate gene has been reported for this ocular
condition in humans. We therefore sought to identify the first locus
for isolated nonsyndromic PHPV by homozygosity mapping in a large
inbred Pakistani pedigree.
We report the linkage of a new autosomal recessive (ar)PHPV
locus to 10q11-q21 by microsatellite mapping.
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Patients and Methods
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A six-generation, consanguineous Pakistani family with
congenital blindness was ascertained. The family consisted of 5
affected (age range, 522 years) and 12 unaffected individuals.
Consanguinity was present among the parents of all patients of three
branches of the family (Fig. 1)
. An ophthalmologist clinically examined all patients and their normal
family members. Both eyes of all affected subjects were blind and
showed nystagmus. The youngest affected subject VI:2, aged 5 years, had
perception of light in both eyes. Ultrasound scans revealed an axial
length of within a range of 20 to 22 mm in both eyes of all patients.
All the patients except the youngest (VI:2) had a shallow anterior
chamber in both eyes. Peripheral anterior synechiae and corneal
opacities were seen, with variable degrees of cataract and a
retrolenticular white mass behind the lens. The iris was anteriorly
displaced in all affected eyes.

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Figure 1. Pedigree of an arPHPV-affected family with genotypic data for
microsatellite markers analyzed. Circles: females;
squares: males; filled symbols: affected
individuals; open symbols: unaffected individuals;
diagonal line through a symbol: deceased family member;
double line between individuals: consanguinity;
crosshatching: uninformative haplotypes.
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Remnants of the hyaloid artery were seen with one vessel on the
posterior side of the cataractous lens in the youngest subject (VI:2).
There were retinal folds in one of her eyes, but no retinal detachment
was seen at the time of examination, which was performed with the
patient under general anesthesia. Grayish fibrous tissue protruding
into the vitreous from the posterior side of the lens formed a tentlike
structure, with its base located anteriorly and its tip posteriorly.
Ophthalmic examination of the parents of the affected individuals
revealed no evidence of PHPV, indicating an autosomal recessive mode of
inheritance. Based on these clinical findings and the genealogical
details, the disease segregating in this family was classified as
congenital nonsyndromic arPHPV.
The protocol of the study conformed with the tenets of the Declaration
of Helsinki. To perform a full genome search, using linkage
analysis with microsatellite markers, we collected peripheral blood
samples with informed consent from all the members of the family (Fig. 1) . Samples were also obtained from 100 unrelated, normal Pakistani
individuals to calculate the allele frequencies. Genomic DNA was
extracted from whole blood using an extraction kit (Nucleon II; Scotlab
Bioscience, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK). To identify the gene
responsible for the disease in this family, we performed a whole-genome
linkage analysis.
Microsatellite and Linkage Analysis
For linkage analysis, polymorphic microsatellite markers (Human
MapPairs Set, ver. 8; Research Genetics, Inchinnan,
Scotland, UK) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Three
sets of markers were analyzed: those corresponding to the known loci of
eye-specific transcription factor genes,16
a further 40
reported to define loci closest to the greatest number of expressed
sequence tags,17
and a set of 387 anonymous markers at 10-
to 20-centimorgan (cM) intervals throughout the genome. PCR reactions
were each performed in a 10-µl volume containing 1.5 mM
MgCl2, 0.4 mM of each primer, 200 µM dNTPs, 16
mM
(NH4)2SO4,
67 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.8), 0.01% Tween-20, and 1 U Taq DNA
polymerase (Bio-Line, London, UK). Amplification was performed with an
initial denaturation for 3 minutes at 95°C, followed by 30 cycles of
denaturation at 95°C for 1 minute, annealing at 55°C for 1 minute,
extension at 72°C for 1 minute, and a final extension at 72°C for 7
minutes. The PCR products were separated on 8% to 10% nondenaturing
polyacrylamide gels (Protogel; National Diagnostics, Edinburgh,
Scotland, UK). The gels were stained with ethidium bromide and
photographed under UV illumination.
On the first indication of linkage to chromosome 10q, the family was
genotyped for more markers across the region. Alleles were assigned to
individuals, and haplotypes of all family members were constructed
(Fig. 1)
. The genotypic data were used to calculate the two-point lod
scores, using the Cyrillic (http://www.cyrillicsoftware.com) and
MLINK (ftp://linkage.rockefeller.edu/software/linkage/)
software programs.18
Allele frequencies were calculated
from the normal, ethnically matched population. The phenotype was
analyzed as an autosomal recessive trait with complete penetrance at a
frequency of 0.0001 for the disease gene.
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Results
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Seventeen members of the family affected by arPHPV were typed for
more than 300 polymorphic markers. Genomic DNA from each individual was
initially genotyped for microsatellite markers for all the known eye
developmental loci (RetNet and references therein; available at
http://www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/Retnet/disease.htm and provided in the
public domain by the University of Texas Houston Health Science
Center). Significant exclusion was observed for all the known
loci. Subsequently, a genome-wide search was undertaken by using 250
polymorphic markers spanning the entire human genome at 20-cM intervals
(Research Genetics). Significant linkage was obtained for markers on
chromosome 10q. Two-point lod scores between PHPV and markers in this
region (D10S208, D10S1220, D10S1221, D10S1225,
GATA121A08, and D10S537) are summarized in Table 1
. Positive lod scores ranging from 3.24 to 4.07 at
=
0.00 were obtained for markers D10S1221, D10S1225, and GATA121A08. The
maximum lod score of 4.07 was obtained for the marker D10S1225, with no
crossover (Table 1)
.
The most probable disease haplotypes and the distal and proximal
boundaries of the chromosomal interval containing the novel disease
locus are shown in Figure 1
. The proximal crossover was obtained in
individual V:2 with marker D10S1220. However, because the marker
D10S1220 was uninformative (shown crosshatched in Fig. 1 ), the next
marker, D10S208, was considered to be the proximal flanking marker.
Although the distal crossover was obtained with marker D10S537 in
individual VI:2, the critical disease region was flanked by markers
D10S208 and D10S537, if we consider identity-by-descent in VI:2. The
estimated genetic distance between these two markers was approximately
30 cM. However, based on the recessive mode of inheritance,
homozygosity in the disease region of approximately 13 cM was observed
in all the patients in the family with microsatellite markers
D10S1221, D10S1225, and GATA121A08.
The linkage data presented in this study suggest that a gene for arPHPV
is present at the proximal part of the long arm of chromosome 10, most
likely at 10q11-q21 within the region of homozygosity of 13 cM (Fig. 2
; genetic distances between markers are according to Marshmed genetic
maps; Marshfield Laboratories, Marshfield, WI). Recently, a locus for
nonsyndromic congenital retinal nonattachment has been reported on
10q21.19
Given that congenital retinal nonattachment is
part of the spectrum of PFV,3
the fact that this condition
was linked to an area within the disease interval for PHPV implicated
in this study, may represent an example of allelic heterogeneity.
The distal crossover with marker D10S537 excludes the
human retinal G-proteincoupled receptor gene
(RGR),20
21
expressed in the retina.

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Figure 2. Schematic representation of chromosome 10, indicating the position of
the arPHPV locus and relative locations of other known eye disorder
loci and genes.
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Other genes and loci reported on chromosome 10 that are associated with
eye disorders include those for recessive Usher
syndrome,22
23
recessive RPE degeneration, recessive
gyrate atrophy, and recessive Refsum disease,24
25
as
shown in Figure 2
. This indicates that chromosome 10 is gene rich,
especially in genes associated with ocular disorders.
This study describes the mapping of a first locus for isolated
congenital nonsyndromic PHPV and defines the location of yet another
novel developmental gene that may be critical in eye development.
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Acknowledgements
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The authors thank the family members for taking part in this study.
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Footnotes
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Supported by The Wellcome Trust Grant 049571/Z/96/Z.
Submitted for publication February 7, 2001; revised May 3, 2001;
accepted May 31, 2001.
Commercial relationships policy: N.
The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page
charge payment. This article must therefore be marked
"advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C.
1734
solely to indicate this fact.
Corresponding author: Shagufta Khaliq, Biomedical and Genetic
Engineering Division, Dr. A. Q. Khan, Research Laboratories, PO
Box 2891, 24 Mauve Area, G-9/1 Islamabad, Pakistan.
sqmehdi{at}isb.comsats.net.pk
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