Genetic Variants on Chromosome 1q41 Influence Ocular Axial Length and High Myopia

As one of the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness, myopia poses a significant public health burden in Asia. The primary determinant of myopia is an elongated ocular axial length (AL). Here we report a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies on AL conducted in 1,860 Chinese adults, 929 Chinese children, and 2,155 Malay adults. We identified a genetic locus on chromosome 1q41 harboring the zinc-finger 11B pseudogene ZC3H11B showing genome-wide significant association with AL variation (rs4373767, β = −0.16 mm per minor allele, Pmeta = 2.69×10−10). The minor C allele of rs4373767 was also observed to significantly associate with decreased susceptibility to high myopia (per-allele odds ratio (OR) = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.68–0.84, Pmeta = 4.38×10−7) in 1,118 highly myopic cases and 5,433 controls. ZC3H11B and two neighboring genes SLC30A10 and LYPLAL1 were expressed in the human neural retina, retinal pigment epithelium, and sclera. In an experimental myopia mouse model, we observed significant alterations to gene and protein expression in the retina and sclera of the unilateral induced myopic eyes for the murine genes ZC3H11A, SLC30A10, and LYPLAL1. This supports the likely role of genetic variants at chromosome 1q41 in influencing AL variation and high myopia. Author Summary: Myopic individuals exhibit an increase in ocular axial length (AL). As a highly heritable ocular biometry of refractive error, identification of quantitative trait loci influencing AL variation would be valuable in informing the biological etiology of myopia. We have determined that a genetic locus on chromosome 1q41 containing zinc-finger pseudogene ZC3H11B is associated with AL and high myopia through a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association scans on AL in Chinese and Malays, with validation for high myopia association in two additional Japanese cohorts. In addition, variations in the expression of murine gene ZC3H11A and two neighboring genes SLC30A10 and LYPLAL1 in the retina and sclera in a myopic mouse model implicate the role of these genes in myopia onset. To our knowledge, this is the first genome-wide survey of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variation of AL in Asians. Our results suggest that genetic variants at chromosome 1q41 have potential roles in both common and high myopia.