Abstract
BACKGROUND: Non-syndromic hearing loss is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. In this study, we characterized the clinical features of twelve Chinese Han deaf families in which mutations in common deafness genes GJB2 , SLC26A4 and MT-RNR1 were excluded. RESULTS: Targeted next-generation sequencing of 147 known deafness genes was performed in probands of ten families, while whole-exome sequencing was applied in those of the rest two. Pathogenic mutations in a total of 11 rare deafness genes, OTOF , CDH23 , PCDH15 , PDZD7 , ADGRV1 , KARS , OTOG , GRXCR2 , MYO6 , GRHL2 , and POU3F4 , were identified in all 12 probands, with 17 mutations being novel. Intrafamilial co-segregation of the mutations and the deafness phenotype were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. CONCLUSIONS: Our results expanded the mutation spectrum and genotype-phenotype correlation of non-syndromic hearing loss in Chinese Hans and also emphasized the importance of combining both next-generation sequencing and detailed auditory evaluation to achieve a more accurate diagnosis for non-syndromic hearing loss.