A Gene for a Dominant Form of Non-Syndromic Sensorineural Deafness ( DFNA11 ) Maps Within the Region Containing the DFNB2 Recessive Deafness Gene

Abstract

Hereditary hearing loss is divided into two groups, syndromic and non-syndromic, the latter being more common and highly heterogeneous. Linkage analyses were performed on a Japanese family showing a dominant form of non-syndromic progressive sensori-neural hearing loss. This gene ( DFNA11 ) was localized within the region of chromosome 11q which contains the second gene for a recessive form of non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss ( DFNB2 ). Since it has been reported that another gene for dominant non-syndromic hearing loss ( DFNA3 ) has been mapped to the same region as the first gene for recessive hearing loss ( DFNB1 ), it is possible that different mutations in the DFNB2 gene may result in either dominant or recessive hearing loss.