Mutation in second exon of myo15a gene cause of nonsyndromic hearing loss and its association in the Arab population in Iran

Hearing loss is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous defect and more than 140 loci and 65 genes have been identified to cause autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL). According to the previous studies, mutations in GJB2 are estimated to be involved in 18.17% of ARNSHL cases in the Iranian population; as a result, the remaining 81.83% of this disorder is yet ambiguous. This study aimed to determine the contribution of DFNB3 in hearing loss as well as the frequency of gene mutations in a population (Arab tribal origin) in the Southwest of Iran. In this descriptive laboratory study, we included 25 families from the Southwest of Iran and negative GJB2 gene. Linkage analysis was performed by DFNB3 (MYO15A) molecular markers (STR). The families with hearing loss linked to this locus were further analyzed for mutation detection. MYO15A gene exons were amplified and analyzed using direct DNA sequencing. In studied families, one family displayed linkage to DFNB3 locus. Identified mutations include substitution and substitute C for A in 1047 location of coding region of MYO15A gene (c.1047 C > A) in exon 2 which cause to change Tyrosin to stop codons (P.Y349X), results in the premature truncation at amino acid position 349.