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1From the Department of Genetics, Institute of Child Health, Athens, Greece; the 2Department of Ophthalmology, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece; the 3Department of Ophthalmology, Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon; the 4National Blood Derivative Center, Athens, Greece; the 5Division of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and the 7Department of Neurology, Oregon Health Science University, Portland, Oregon; and the 6Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
| Abstract |
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METHODS. The three exons of MYOC were screened by denaturing (d)HPLC. Samples with heteroduplex peaks were sequenced. Clinical findings were compared with genotype status in all available family members over the age of 20 years.
RESULTS. A T377M coding sequence change in MYOC was identified in family members of the Greek GLC1C family but not in the Oregon GLC1C family. Individuals carrying both the MYOC T377M variant and the GLC1C haplotype were more severely affected at an earlier age than individuals with just one of the POAG genes, suggesting that these two genes interact or that both contribute to the POAG phenotype in a cumulative way.
Because the disease is asymptomatic and progresses slowly, diagnosis is often too late, and visual field defects are already severe. Once damage has occurred, the lost peripheral vision cannot be restored. Diagnosis at an early age is paramount, to prevent irreversible glaucomatous optic nerve atrophy by medical or surgical therapy.
Although the etiology of POAG is unknown, at least eight genetic loci are involved.2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The genes for three of these lociGLC1A, GLC1E, and GLC1Ghave recently been identified as MYOC (Mendelian inheritance in Man [MIM] 601652;), OPTN (MIM 602432), and possibly WDR36, respectively.8 10 11
POAG is a complex disease that probably results from both genetic and environmental causes. Recent work has suggested that glaucoma may result from interactions between multiple genes within some individuals.12 13 14 15 16 MYOC mutations have been associated with both sporadic cases of POAG and dominant hereditary glaucoma, often with juvenile onset.10 Within some POAG families, the MYOC mutation is not present in all relatives with glaucoma.17 This suggests that either additional genes or environmental factors lead to increased susceptibility to POAG in these families. Thus, these pedigrees add to the evidence for complex inheritance in POAG.
We identified the third locus for POAG, GLC1C, in a large U.S. family from Oregon.4 Subsequently, we replicated the GLC1C linkage in a family from the Epirus region in Greece.18 Because of the potential for complex inheritance in these families, we screened both families for mutations in MYOC. This is the first report that demonstrates the independent segregation of two genes (one with a known mutation and another mapped by conventional linkage analysis) associated with adult-onset glaucoma in a large family.
| Materials and Methods |
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The clinical examination protocol included:
22 mm Hg.
0.5), or definitely glaucomatous (CDR
0.7). A CDR
0.5 has been shown to be a risk factor for POAG in patients with OHT in the Ocular Hypertension Study.19 The criteria for the diagnosis of glaucoma has been described.4 In our study, essentially, one of three criteria had to be met: (1) diagnosis of glaucoma before our study with instigation of treatment, (2) definite bilateral nasal steps on Humphrey Glaucoma Hemifield test (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA), or (3) two or more of the following findings: untreated IOP >24 mm Hg, characteristic optic nerve damage, and/or an abnormal Humphrey Glaucoma Hemifield Test result. Characteristic optic nerve damage may include focal neuroretinal rim thinning or a notch extending to the margin, retinal nerve fiber layer defects, disc hemorrhages, or bared circumpapillary vessels. This study has the limitation that some of the Greek family members lived in a rural setting that was fairly remote from the glaucoma clinic in Ioannina. These members were examined in their village as described earlier. Perimetry could not be performed in this location, and therefore Humphrey visual field results are not available for these individuals. Dr. Kitsos diagnosed the illness in all the living Greek family members who had POAG, and the age of diagnosis was therefore determined by his examination.
To gather further information regarding the penetrance of the three different carrier states, we analyzed the proportion of individuals known to carry the mutation who were manifesting a large CDR (
0.5), OHT or POAG at (1) 30 years of age or older, (2) 40 years of age or older, and (3) 60 years of age. Although a CDR
0.5 is not diagnostic of POAG, we used this cutoff for analysis of clinical differences between the four genotype groups, because a larger CDR may represent a susceptibility factor for glaucoma.19 The Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS) has shown a significant association between a CDR >0.38 and the development of glaucoma when combined with baseline clinical and demographic factors.20
Mutation and Haplotype Analysis
Mutation analysis of the three exons of MYOC was performed with denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (dHPLC; WAVE system; Transgenomic, Omaha, NE; with WAVEMaker or Navigator software) used to design amplicons that would be optimal for identifying heteroduplex DNA using the system. DNA from 73 members of the Greek GLC1C family, 56 random patients with POAG from Greece, 71 members of the Oregon GLC1C family and 121 random patients with POAG from the glaucoma clinic at Kaiser Permanente were used for this analysis. PCR reactions contained 1.9 units of polymerase (Optimase; Transgenomic) in a 50-µL volume containing 100 ng of DNA template, 25 picomoles of each forward and reverse primer, 0.2 mM of each deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate (dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP), and 5 µL of the 10x reaction buffer (Transgenomic) containing 1.5 mM MgSO4. Touchdown PCR was performed (GeneAmp PCR System 9700; Applied Biosystems, Inc., Foster City, CA) with the annealing temperature lowered by 0.5°C for 15 cycles followed by 20 cycles at a constant annealing temperature. The touchdown and annealing temperatures were designed specifically for each PCR product based on the properties of the sequence. The denaturation and extension temperatures were kept constant at 95°C and 72°C, respectively. The final incubation for all the primer sets was at 72°C for 5 minutes. Before the PCR products were applied to the HPLC system (WAVE; Transgenomic), the samples were denatured by raising the temperature to 95°C and then lowering to 25°C by 1.5°C/min.
dHPLC Analysis.
The PCR amplicons were run individually on the system (WAVE; Transgenomic) using 5 µL of each sample. A linear gradient of 5% triethylammonium acetate (TEAA; buffer A) and 25% acetonitrile+5% TEAA (buffer B) was used to elute the sample at a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min. All heteroduplex amplicons were sequenced at the Portland VA Medical Center core facility to identify the specific MYOC base-pair change.
Statistical Analysis.
We used the Kruskal-Wallis test for the multiple group comparisons and the Mann-Whitney test and the Fisher exact test for the pair-wise comparisons. All computations were performed in R statistical language.21
| Results |
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An MYOC T377M mutation was found in 20 of the 73 family members of the Greek family (Fig. 1) . Ten of the 15 affected individuals in the family had the T377M variant, but none of the random patients with POAG possessed this mutation. Additional MYOC variants in the Greek family included D380H in one unaffected spouse (F2-3W) and Y347Y in two spouses and several of their children. None of F2-3Ws children inherited the D380H variant.
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Information on the age at diagnosis and examination, maximum recorded IOP and CDR for the family members is shown grouped by genotype in Tables 1 2 3 and 4 . No significant difference in age at diagnosis or examination was found between the four groups by the Kruskal-Wallis test. Maximum IOPs were significantly higher in group 1 than in groups 3 and 4, by Mann-Whitney test (P = 0.009 for both), but not significantly different from group 2 (Table 5) . The maximum IOPs were not significantly different between groups 2, 3, and 4. The CDR was also significantly greater in group 1 than in the three other groups (P = 0.025, 0.020, and 0.000 in groups 2, 3, and 4, respectively), as shown in Table 6 . The maximum CDR in groups 2 and 3 were significantly higher than in group 4 (P = 0.020 and 0.001, respectively) No significant difference was found between groups 2 and 3. One person, F3-25, who had the T377M MYOC mutation but not the GLC1C haplotype, required trabeculectomy. None of the other affected family members had had surgical intervention.
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| Discussion |
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We recently screened the Greek POAG family and 56 random Greek patients with POAG for MYOC base-pair variants and identified a T377M mutation in the family. The 15 living affected family members have all been examined by GK. Ten of the 15 POAG individuals carry the T377M variant. It appears that the GLC1C gene on chromosome 3 and the MYOC mutation on chromosome 1 segregate independently in this family.
Relatives with both the GLC1C haplotype and T377M mutation were more severely affected as a group than those individuals with one mutant POAG gene. Maximum-recorded IOPs were significantly higher in individuals with both mutant genes compared to family members with just the GLC1C haplotype but not compared with those with the MYOC T377M mutation. Thus, MYOC may be more fundamentally involved in regulating IOP than is the GLC1C gene. However, CDRs were significantly higher in the group with both the GLC1C gene and the T377M variant compared with those with just the T377M mutation or the GLC1C gene. This suggests that the GLC1C gene and MYOC may interact synergistically.
Screening of the Oregon GLC1C family revealed no disease-causing MYOC mutations, although two polymorphisms, K398R and Y347Y, were identified in four individuals, all of whom had IOPs <22 mm Hg and normal-appearing optic nerves. This clearly suggests that, although the GLC1C gene and MYOC may interact to cause POAG in some cases, GLC1C also appears to act on its own to cause glaucoma.
Segregation of MYOC variants is not always concordant with disease within families, suggesting complex inheritance of the POAG phenotype.23 24 25 Consistent with this, in the Greek GLC1C family, the MYOC T377M variant does not segregate cleanly with glaucoma; five of the 15 affected individuals do not carry this variant. This explains why the GLC1A locus had been excluded in this pedigree.26 MYOC T377M mutations have also been reported in four Australian families, two U.S. families, one Indian family, a Finnish family, and in a Moroccan individual.13 23 24 27 28 29 30 Consistent with our findings, the T377M variant did not show complete segregation with POAG in many of these families, although some of them are too small to evaluate. This suggests that the T377M variant is a susceptibility factor for POAG, rather than a causal gene.
Penetrance
Existence of variation in age-dependent penetrance for the MYOC T377M mutation is shown in the literature. MYOC T377M mutations have been reported in four Australian families, originating from Greece, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Great Britain.24 Not all affected family members carried the T377M variant, which is consistent with our findings. The penetrance of OHT/POAG in the Australian families was 90% at 40 years or more, which is similar to the penetrance of 88% in the carriers of both the GLC1C and T377M variant in this report. However, in our study, those individuals with only the T377M mutation had a much lower penetrance of 44% at 40 years or older. This is similar to the Finnish study in which the penetrance of the T377M mutation was 40% at ages 36 to 50 years and 45% at >50 years. The difference in age-related penetrance in these families suggests that there may be an additional POAG susceptibility or modifier gene(s) segregating through these families.
General Greek POAG Population
The finding of four families originating from a common geographical area sharing the T377M mutation raised the question of whether this MYOC variant is common in this region. Screening of 56 random patients with POAG from the Ophthalmology Clinic at the University of Ioannina in Epirus revealed no MYOC T377M in any of the individuals. Therefore, the T377M mutation found in the GLC1C family may be a rare mutation in the general Greek POAG population. We are currently screening additional Greek patients with POAG to determine the incidence of the T377M variant in a larger population.
POAG is a complex disease commonly arising from the interaction of two or more genes and/or the environment.31 Segregation of more than one gene through a pedigree has been shown for the CYP1B1 and MYOC genes in families with early-onset glaucoma.15 16 In this study, the MYOC and GLC1C genes appeared to act synergistically, as family members with both genes were more severely affected and the disease was diagnosed at an earlier age. The finding of two POAG genes, previously mapped independently as Mendelian traits, occurring in one large glaucoma family adds further support to the idea that the variable POAG phenotype, even within the same family, results from the interaction of multiple genetic and environmental factors.
| Acknowledgements |
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| Footnotes |
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Supported by National Eye Institute Grants R01 EY11650-07 and 5P30EY010572-099003 and National Institutes of Health Grant M01 RR000334, the American Health Assistance Foundation, and an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness.
Submitted for publication May 20, 2005; revised September 23, 2005; accepted December 22, 2005.
Disclosure: M.B. Petersen, None; G. Kitsos, None; J.R. Samples, None; N.D. Gaudette, None; E. Economou-Petersen, None; R. Sykes, None; K. Rust, None; M. Grigoriadou, None; G. Aperis, None; D. Choi, None; K. Psilas, None; J.E. Craig, None; P.L. Kramer, None; D.A. Mackey, None; M.K. Wirtz, None
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: Mary K. Wirtz, Department of Ophthalmology, Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, 3375 S. W. Terwilliger Boulevard, Portland, OR 97239-4197; wirtzm{at}ohsu.edu.
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