Background: Congenital cataract is the most common cause of blindness in the world. Congenital cataracts are clinically and genetically heterogeneous and are mostly inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. We identified the genetic cause of isolated autosomal dominant cataract in a four-generation British family and a Czech family.Methods: Whole exome sequencing (WES) was performed on one affected member in the British family and two affected members in the Czech family.Results: A novel missense variant c.388C > T; p.(R130C) was identified in the Lens integral membrane protein (LIM2) and found to co-segregate with disease in both families.Conclusions: Here we report the first autosomal dominant congenital cataract variant p.(R130C) in LIM2, causing a non-syndromic pulverulent and nuclear phenotype in European families.
Keywords: Congenital cataracts; LIM2; WES; whole exome sequencing.