Identification of a novel CNV at the EYA4 gene in a Chinese family with autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss

Background Hereditary hearing loss is a heterogeneous class of disorders that exhibits various patterns of inheritance and involves many genes. Variants in the EYA4 gene in DFNA10 are known to lead to postlingual, progressive, autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hereditary hearing loss. Patients and methods We collected a four-generation Chinese family with autosomal-dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss (ADNSHL). We applied targeted next-generation sequencing (TNGS) in three patients of this pedigree and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) in the proband. The intrafamilial cosegregation of the variant and the deafness phenotype were confirmed by PCR, gap-PCR and Sanger sequencing. Results A novel CNV deletion at 6q23 in exons 8-11 of the EYA4 gene with a 10 bp insertion was identified by TNGS and WGS and segregated with the ADNSHL phenotypes. Conclusions Our results expanded the variant spectrum and genotype-phenotype correlation of the EYA4 gene and autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hereditary hearing loss in Chinese Han individuals. WGS is an accurate and effective method for verifying the genomic features of CNVs.

Automated summary

The study identified a novel CNV deletion in the EYA4 gene in a Chinese Han family with autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss, expanding the variant spectrum of EYA4 and providing further insight into the genotype-phenotype correlation in this population. WGS was shown to be an accurate and effective method for verifying CNV genomic features.