RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity in PNPT1, MYO15A, PTPRQ and SLC12A2 variants detected among hearing impaired assortative mating families in Southern India JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2021.04.06.438557 DO 10.1101/2021.04.06.438557 A1 Paridhy Vanniya. S A1 Jayasankaran Chandru A1 Justin Margret Jeffrey A1 Tom Rabinowitz A1 Zippora Brownstein A1 Mathuravalli Krishnamoorthy A1 Karen B. Avraham A1 Le Cheng A1 Noam Shomron A1 C. R. Srikumari Srisailapathy YR 2021 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/04/06/2021.04.06.438557.abstract AB Exome analysis was used to resolve the etiology of hearing loss (HL) in four South Indian assortative mating families. Six variants, including three novel ones, were identified in four genes: PNPT1 p.Ala46Gly and p.Asn540Ser, MYO15A p.Leu1485Pro and p.Tyr1891*, PTPRQ p.Gln1336*, and SLC12A2 p.Pro988Ser. Compound heterozygous PNPT1 variants were associated with prelingual profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), vestibular dysfunction and unilateral progressive vision loss in one family. In the second family, MYO15A variants in the myosin motor domain, including a novel variant, were found to be associated with prelingual profound SNHL. A novel PTPRQ variant was associated with postlingual progressive sensorineural/mixed HL and vestibular dysfunction in the third family, with mastoid bone hypopneumatization observed in one family member. In the fourth family, the SLC12A2 novel variant was found to segregate with severe-to-profound HL causing DFNA78, across three generations. Our results suggest a high level of allelic, genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity of HL in these families. This study is the first to report the association of PNPT1, PTPRQ and SLC12A2 variants with HL in the Indian population.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.