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Background Mutation in eye developmental genes has been reported to cause anophthalmia and microphthalmia. However, in India, especially in the Western Indian population, such reports are scarce. Hence, the present study aims to investigate mutations in 15 ocular developmental genes in patients with anophthalmia and microphthalmia in the western region of India. Materials and methods Genomic DNA was isolated from the blood of 52 individuals affected with microphthalmia and anophthalmia, and 50 healthy normal controls. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out for 15 genes including BMP4, CRYBA4, FOXE3, GDF6, GJA3, GJA8, MITF, OTX2, PAX6, PITX3, RAX, SIX3, SIX6, SOX2, and VSX2 using gene-specific primers spanning the exon-intron boundaries and part of a promoter region. The amplified PCR products were purified and then subjected to Sanger's bi-directional sequencing. Nucleotide variations were examined using a basic local alignment search tool (BLAST). Results Bi-directional sequencing identified 8 novel and 14 known variations. Out of this, the variations GJA3-c.92T>A; p.Ile31Asn, SOX2-c.542C>A; p.Pro181Gln and SOX2-c.541_542delinsGA; p.Pro181Glu were found to be deleterious by in silico analysis. The GJA3-p.Ile31Asn mutation was identified in a patient with bilateral microphthalmia, microcornea, and membranous cataract. The SOX2-p.Pro181Gln and SOX2-p.Pro181Glu mutations were identified in patients with isolated bilateral microphthalmia and microphthalmia with microcornea, respectively. A novel nondeleterious missense variation was identified in the GJA8 gene in a patient with anophthalmia. Conclusion These results support the crucial role of GJA3 and SOX2 in eye development and indicate a detailed functional study to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease pathology.

Purpose: To investigate the association of FOXE3 -p.Ala170Ala (rs34082359) and PITX3 -p.Ile95Ile (rs2281983) polymorphisms with congenital cataract and microphthalmia in a western Indian population. Methods: FOXE3 -p.Ala170Ala (c.510C>T) and PITX3 -p.Ile95Ile (c.285C>T) polymorphisms were genotyped in 561 subjects consisting of 242 cases with congenital cataract, 52 with microphthalmia, and 267 controls using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Approximately 10% of samples were randomly sequenced for each single nucleotide polymorphism to confirm the genotypes. The prediction of mRNA secondary structure for polymorphism FOXE3 -p.Ala170Ala and PITX3-p.Ile95Ile was performed. Results: A significantly high frequency of T allele and a borderline significance in the frequency of TT genotype of FOXE3 -p.Ala170Ala was observed in microphthalmia cases, as compared to controls [T allele: OR: [CI] = 1.8 [1.15-2.72], P = 0.0115; TT: OR [CI] = 2.9 [1.14-7.16], P = 0.0291). The frequency of CC genotype was significantly low in microphthalmia cases when compared to controls (CC: OR [CI] = 0.5 [0.24-0.86, P = 0.0150). There was no significant difference in the allele and genotype frequencies of PITX3 -p.Ile95Ile between cases and controls. A slight free energy change was observed in the secondary structure of mRNA between the FOXE3 -p.Ala170Ala C-allele (-917.60 kcal/mol) and T-allele (-916.80 kcal/mol) and between PITX3 -p.Ile95Ile C-allele (-659.80 kcal/mol) and T-allele (-658.40 kcal/mol). Conclusion: The present findings indicate that FOXE3 -p.Ala170Ala 'T' allele and 'TT' genotype could be predisposing factors for microphthalmia while 'CC' genotype might play a protective role against it. A reduction in the free energy change associated with FOXE3 -p.Ala170Ala 'T' allele could further contribute towards disease risk.

Background: Age-related cataract (ARC) is profoundly associated with oxidative stress. Iron plays a pivotal role in generating oxidative stress and promoting deleterious irreversible damage to the macromolecules. Divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) mediates the uptake of iron into the cell. Aberrant transcript expression of DMT1 gene in lenses of human ARC was reported. The present investigated the genetic association between DMT1 gene polymorphisms and risk of ARC. Methods: DNA from peripheral blood of ARC subjects (n = 764) and age-matched controls (n = 794) was isolated. Genotyping of three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – rs224589 (C/A), rs1048230 (T/C), and rs2285230 (T/C) – of DMT1 gene was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism technique. Level of DMT1 transcript expression was determined by quantitative real-time PCR analysis using RNA from lens epithelial and fiber cells. Results: Nuclear cataract showed a higher frequency of CC genotypes (OR = 1.40; 95%CI = 1.01–1.95; p = 0.04) of SNP rs224589 and a significantly lower frequency of A-T-T haplotype (OR = 0.63; 95%CI = 0.42–0.92; p = 0.02) than that of controls. The A-T-T haplotype demonstrated a dominant protective effect against disease risk when compared to the more common haplotype (C-T-T) (p = 0.01). The haplotype pairs C-T-T/C-T-T and A-C-C/A-C-C showed higher level of transcript expression of DMT1 than C-T-T/A-T-T haplotype pair (p < 0.05). Further, a novel genetic variation (c.1328A>G; p.N443S) in exon 3 of DMT1 gene was observed in a subject with nuclear cataract. Conclusions: The results highlighted a protective association of A-T-T haplotype against the risk of ARC.

Purpose: Adherens junctions and polarity markers play an important role in maintaining epithelial phenotype but get altered during the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Alterations of these markers during EMT of lens epithelial cell (LEC) can lead to vision compromising conditions. The aim of this study was to examine if Trichostatin-A (TSA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, can prevent EMT by restoring the adherens junction complex in LEC. Methods: Fetal human lens epithelial cell line (FHL124) was used. Cells were treated with 10 ng/ml TGF-β2 in the presence or absence of TSA. Real time-PCR and western blotting were carried out for HDAC1, HDAC2, CDH1 (E-cad), TJP1 ( ZO-1) and CTNNB1 (β-cat). Level of histone acetylation was analyzed by western blotting. Chromatin Immunoprecipitation was carried out to study the level of acetylated histone H4 and HDAC2 at the promoter regions of CDH1, TJP1, and CTNNB1. E-cad, ZO-1, and β-cat were localized using immunofluorescence. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for statistical analysis. Results: TSA down-regulated HDAC1 and HDAC2 and led to an increase in global acetylation. The mRNA and protein levels of E-cad, ZO-1, and β-cat decreased during EMT but were up-regulated by TSA treatment. TSA also helped in stabilizing these proteins at cell-cell junctions during EMT. TSA decreases association of HDAC2 at the promoter regions of adherens junction genes while increasing histone H4 acetylation status. Conclusion: TSA increases histone acetylation and restores the adherens junction complex in LECs. TSA helps in preventing EMT and thus shows potential against lens fibrosis and vision compromising conditions.