Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) comprises a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of diseases that afflicts approximately 1.5 million people worldwide. Affected individuals suffer from a progressive degeneration of the photoreceptors, eventually resulting in severe visual impairment. To isolate candidate genes for chorioretinal diseases, we cloned cDNAs specifically or preferentially expressed in the human retina and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) through a novel suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) method. One of these cDNAs (RET3C11) mapped to chromosome 1q31-q32.1, a region harbouring a gene involved in a severe form of autosomal recessive RP characterized by a typical preservation of the para-arteriolar RPE (RP12; ref. 3). The full-length cDNA encodes an extracellular protein with 19 EGF-like domains, 3 laminin A G-like domains and a C-type lectin domain. This protein is homologous to the Drosophila melanogaster protein crumbs (CRB), and denoted CRB1 (crumbs homologue 1). In ten unrelated RP patients with preserved para-arteriolar RPE, we identified a homozygous AluY insertion disrupting the ORF, five homozygous missense mutations and four compound heterozygous mutations in CRB1. The similarity to CRB suggests a role for CRB1 in cell-cell interaction and possibly in the maintenance of cell polarity in the retina. The distinct RPE abnormalities observed in RP12 patients suggest that CRB1 mutations trigger a novel mechanism of photoreceptor degeneration.

We describe an extended Dutch family with a new hereditary disorder: autosomal dominant vascular retinopathy, migraine and Raynaud's phenomenon. Information was obtained on 289 family members (151 males, 138 females), of whom 198 were personally interviewed. Retinopathy was found in 20 (6.9%) of the family members, migraine in 65 (22.5%) and Raynaud's phenomenon in 50 (17.3%). A combination of all three symptoms was found in 11 subjects. In a genetic linkage analysis we firstly excluded several candidate loci. Subsequently, 75% of the autosomal genome was excluded in a genome-wide search. The following conclusions were drawn. First, genetic factors are involved in Raynaud's phenomenon. Secondly, the genetic linkage of migraine with vascular retinopathy and Raynaud's phenomenon supports a vascular aetiology of this disorder. Finding the gene for this family may help to elucidate the genetic background of migraine and of vascular disorders in general.

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Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a maternally inherited disease associated with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations. We describe the distribution of seven different mtDNA mutations and the clinical findings in 334 LHON patients belonging to 29 families. Mutations described only in LHON at nucleotide positions 11778, 3460, and 14484 were found in 15, two, and nine families respectively. In three families none of these mutations was found. Mutations described in LHON but also in controls at nucleotide positions 15257, 13708, 4917, and 4216 were found in one, 10, three and 12 families respectively. Combinations of mtDNA mutations were found in most families. The patient population mainly consisted of 79-2% to 89'5% males except for one family with only 10 of 17 patients being males (58-9%, p-0 036). In 11 families only the 11778 mutation was found; in this group (WX) the affected males had a mean age of onset of 29-2 years and a mean visual outcome of 0-113. In seven families the 14484, 13708, and 4216 mutations were found; in this group (MA) the affected males had a mean age of onset of 22-0 years and a mean visual outcome of 0-442. In two families no mutation was found at all; in this group (YX) the affected males had a mean age of onset of 18-9 years and a mean visual outcome of 0 167. The mean age of onset in the WX group is significantly higher than in the MA group (p< 0-01) and in the YX group (p001).

The results of linkage analysis in a family with X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) are presented. Probe M27B (DXS255), localized to Xp11.22, was only loosely linked to XLRP, whereas pHOC3 (OTC), in the more distal Xp21.1 region, was tightly linked. In this family, the conditional probability of an RP3 locus (in Xp21.1-p11.4) was found to be 0.978 compared with 0.021 for an RP2 locus (in Xp11.4-p11.2). Risk assessment showed that 2 out of 4 "at risk" females showing no clinical abnormality have a high probability of being genetic carriers of XLRP. Some affected males have recurrent respiratory infections as a result of a condition indistinguishable from the immotile cilia syndrome; indeed, there is an association between XLRP and susceptibility to respiratory infections in the majority of affected males. The possibility that previously observed ciliary abnormalities in XLRP patients might be associated specifically with an RP3 locus abnormality is discussed.