Abstract:

Abstract: To study the molecular genetic mechanism of hereditary congenital aniridia, the entire coding exons (exon 4–13) of PAX6 gene and the flanking exon-intron junctions were amplified through PCR from the genomic DNA of all the two patients in a Chinese family with aniridia. PCR products were purified from agarose gel and sequenced. In both patients, a novel deletion mutation (c. 1286delC) in exon 11 was identified. Compared with the normal product of PAX6 gene, this mutation caused frame shifting, and generated a novel 55 amino acid peptide from codon 309. This deletion also resulted in a premature termination codon (PTC) and preterminated peptide synthesis. Meanwhile, this mutation was absent in all the unaffected family members and 50 normal control individuals through PCR-RFLP.