American journal of human genetics
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Familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) is a genetically heterogeneous retinal disorder characterized by abnormal vascularisation of the peripheral retina, often accompanied by retinal detachment. To date, mutations in three genes (FZD4, LRP5, and NDP) have been shown to be causative for FEVR. In two large Dutch pedigrees segregating autosomal-dominant FEVR, genome-wide SNP analysis identified an FEVR locus of approximately 40 Mb on chromosome 7. ⋯ This protein has very recently been implicated in regulating the development of retinal vasculature, together with the proteins encoded by FZD4, LRP5, and NDP. Sequence analysis of TSPAN12 revealed two mutations segregating in five of 11 FEVR families, indicating that mutations in TSPAN12 are a relatively frequent cause of FEVR. Furthermore, we demonstrate the power of targeted next-generation sequencing technology to identify disease genes in linkage intervals.