Comparison of infantile nystagmus syndrome in achiasmatic zebrafish and humans
- Authors
- Huang, M., Chen, C.C., Huber-Reggi, S.P., Neuhauss, S.C., and Straumann, D.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-111012-3
- Date
- 2011
- Source
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1233(1): 285-291 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Huang, Melody Ying-Yu, Neuhauss, Stephan
- Keywords
- infantile nystagmus syndrome, optokinetic response, misprojection, visual pathway, congenital nystagmus
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Disease Models, Animal
- Humans
- Infant
- LIM-Homeodomain Proteins/genetics
- Mutation
- Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics
- Nystagmus, Congenital/diagnosis*
- Nystagmus, Congenital/genetics
- Nystagmus, Congenital/physiopathology*
- Optic Chiasm/abnormalities
- Species Specificity
- Syndrome
- Transcription Factors/genetics
- Visual Pathways/abnormalities
- Visual Pathways/physiopathology
- Zebrafish
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
- PubMed
- 21951006 Full text @ Ann N Y Acad Sci
Infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS; formerly called congenital nystagmus) is an ocular motor disorder characterized by several typical nystagmus waveforms. To date, restrictions inherent to human research and the absence of a handy animal model have impeded efforts to identify the underlying mechanism of INS. Displaying INS-like spontaneous eye oscillations, achiasmatic zebrafish belladonna (bel) mutants may provide new insights into the mystery of INS. In this study, we demonstrate that these spontaneous eye oscillations match the diagnostic waveforms of INS. As a result, zebrafish bel mutants can be used as an animal model for the study of INS. In zebrafish bel mutants, visual pathway abnormalities may contribute to the spontaneous nystagmus via an inverted signal to the pretectal area. We hypothesized that human INS may also be linked to visual pathway abnormalities (possibly underdiagnosed in INS patients) in a similar way.