Nonmuscle myosin heavy-chain gene MYH14 is expressed in cochlea and mutated in patients affected by autosomal dominant hearing impairment (DFNA4).
Myosins have been implicated in various motile processes, including organelle translocation, ion-channel gating, and cytoskeleton reorganization. Different members of the myosin superfamily are responsible for syndromic and nonsyndromic hearing impairment in both humans and mice. MYH14 encodes one of the heavy chains of the class II nonmuscle myosins, and it is localized within the autosomal dominant hearing impairment (DFNA4) critical region. After demonstrating that MYH14 is highly expressed in mouse cochlea, we performed a mutational screening in a large series of 300 hearing-impaired patients from Italy, Spain, and Belgium and in a German kindred linked to DFNA4. This study allowed us to identify a nonsense and two missense mutations in large pedigrees, linked to DFNA4, as well as a de novo allele in a sporadic case. Absence of these mutations in healthy individuals was tested in 200 control individuals. These findings clearly demonstrate the role of MYH14 in causing autosomal dominant hearing loss and further confirm the crucial role of the myosin superfamily in auditive functions.
Donaudy
Francesca
F
Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, Dipartimento di Patologia Generale, Seconda Università di Napoli, Naples, Italy.
Snoeckx
Rik
R
Pfister
Markus
M
Zenner
Hans-Peter
HP
Blin
Nikolaus
N
Di Stazio
Mariateresa
M
Ferrara
Antonella
A
Lanzara
Carmen
C
Ficarella
Romina
R
Declau
Frank
F
Pusch
Carsten M
CM
Nürnberg
Peter
P
Melchionda
Salvatore
S
Zelante
Leopoldo
L
Ballana
Ester
E
Estivill
Xavier
X
Van Camp
Guy
G
Gasparini
Paolo
P
Savoia
Anna
A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D003051:Cochlea / Q000378:metabolism*; D003638:Deafness / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005799:Genes, Dominant / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D018995:Myosin Heavy Chains / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D024462:Myosin Type II; D010375:Pedigree; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018995:Myosin Heavy Chains; D024462:Myosin Type II; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C477830:MYH7b protein, human