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Background: Haploinsufficiency at the PAX6 locus causes aniridia, a panocular eye condition characterized by iris hypoplasia and a variety of other anterior and posterior eye defects leading to poor vision. This study was performed to identify novel PAX6 mutations that lead to familial aniridia in Indian patients., Methods: Genomic DNA was isolated from affected individuals (clinically diagnosed aniridia) from nine unrelated aniridic pedigrees, unaffected family members, and unrelated normal controls. The coding regions of PAX6 were amplified and subjected to single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) gel analysis, and direct cloning and sequencing., Results: SSCP band shifts, indicative of DNA base pair mutations, were observed in five of these unrelated families. Four mutations were shown to be previously unreported insertion or deletions in PAX6, leading to frameshifts. These new mutations were c.1174delTG (in exon 10), c.710delC (exon 6), c.406delTT (exon 5) and c.393insTCAGC (exon 5). The other nonsense mutation, a transition (c.1080C>T) in exon 9, has been reported previously as a mutation hotspot for PAX6 in other ethnic pedigrees. All mutant alleles transmitted through aniridic individuals in each family., Conclusion: These new deletions and an insertion create frameshifts, which are predicted to introduce premature termination codons into the PAX6 reading frame. The genetic alterations carried by affected individuals are predicted to lead to loss-of-function mutations that would segregate in an autosomal dominant manner to subsequent generations. This is the first report of the 'hotspot' c.1080C>T transition from Indian families.

Purpose: PAX6 missense mutations are likely to cause a spectrum of ocular, neurological, and systemic developmental defects and have been reported in various ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical features of optic nerve malformation caused by PAX6 mutations in Indian patients., Methods: Total genomic DNA was isolated from peripheral blood of 27 sporadic probands affected with congenital optic nerve malformation, unaffected family members, and 50 unrelated age-matched controls. Informed consent was obtained from all study subjects. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out to explore PAX6 defective alleles using single-strand conformation analysis (PCR-SSCA) followed by automated bidirectional sequencing., Results: We identified two novel PAX6 missense mutations in two unrelated sporadic probands. The mutation analysis revealed variation at position c.469G>C, codon 36 in proband ONH 4-1 with optic nerve hypoplasia. The other de novo mutation was observed at c.514G>C, codon 51 in proband ODC 5-1 with optic disc coloboma. Both G>C base substitutions cause a relatively conservative amino acid change, altering glycine to alanine residues within the paired DNA-binding domain., Conclusions: In this study, we have been able to identify two sequence variations in the PAX6 gene. These missense mutations may uniquely alter the structure and expression of PAX6 protein, resulting in distinct clinical phenotypes. Mutation analysis of 27 probands for PAX6 has resulted in only two significant variants. This finding demonstrated that the frequency of PAX6 mutations associated with optic nerve malformation is low, requiring the elucidation of other candidate genes in other patients.

Purpose: A mutation in the PAX6 gene is thought to be the genetic cause of aniridia. Here we search for PAX6 gene mutations in Indian aniridia patients., Methods: We amplified the coding exons of the PAX6 gene from the genomic DNA of 15 unrelated aniridia patients using polymerase chain reaction technology. We then performed single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and heteroduplex analysis to search for sequence variants., Results: Sequencing of shifted bands in two patients revealed PAX6 gene mutations. One of these was a novel mutation, 1180insA, located in exon 10 at the start of the PST domain. The other mutation, 1080C->T (R240X), located in exon 9 within the homeodomain, and is another example of the most commonly reported PAX6 mutation., Conclusions: Although PAX6 gene mutations and polymorphisms have been reported from various ethnic groups, we report for the first time the identification of PAX6 gene mutations in Indian aniridia patients.