Abstract
Mutations in GJB2, encoding the gap junction protein connexin 26, are the most common cause of inherited non-syndromic hearing loss (NSHL), with a broad spectrum of mutations leading to recessive as well as dominant forms. It has been shown that patients who are compound heterozygous for a 342-kb deletion (Δ( GJB6- D13S1830)) involving a large portion of the 5′-part of GJB6, encoding connexin 30, and a GJB2 mutation develop NSHL due to a trait with a digenic pattern of inheritance. We have used a mutation-specific polymerase chain reaction assay to screen NSHL patients for the presence of Δ( GJB6- D13S1830) and identified two families segregating both c.35delG in GJB2 and Δ( GJB6- D13S1830). Remarkably, the severity of hearing loss due to heterozygosity for c.35delG in GJB2 in conjunction with Δ( GJB6- D13S1830) is considerably different in members of the two families, ranging from congenital deafness in one to moderate/severe hearing loss with congenital onset in the other case.
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