DFNB30 is autosomal recessive nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss caused by biallelic pathogenic MYO3A variants. Myosin IIIa combines an N-terminal regulatory kinase, an actin-based motor and a cargo-binding tail and localizes to hair-cell stereocilia tips. Bilateral, progressive, high-frequency hearing loss was described in the founding Iraqi Jewish family; congenital profound presentations also occur. Onset and severity vary, and available families do not establish a universal genotype-phenotype rule. Mouse and cell studies implicate stereocilia regulation and maintenance, but failed espin-1 delivery, loss of tip localization and normal mechanotransduction are not established universal features of DFNB30. In a nonsense knock-in mouse, hearing deficits precede visible hair-cell degeneration. The MYO3A variants associated with dominant hearing loss require separate allele-specific interpretation.
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Conditions with similar clinical presentations that must be differentiated from Autosomal Recessive Nonsyndromic Hearing Loss 30:
name: Autosomal Recessive Nonsyndromic Hearing Loss 30
category: Mendelian
creation_date: "2026-09-04T00:00:00Z"
synonyms:
- DFNB30
- Deafness, autosomal recessive 30
- MYO3A-associated hearing loss
- Autosomal recessive nonsyndromic deafness 30
description: >-
DFNB30 is autosomal recessive nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss caused by biallelic pathogenic MYO3A
variants. Myosin IIIa combines an N-terminal regulatory kinase, an actin-based motor and a cargo-binding
tail and localizes to hair-cell stereocilia tips. Bilateral, progressive, high-frequency hearing loss was
described in the founding Iraqi Jewish family; congenital profound presentations also occur. Onset and severity
vary, and available families do not establish a universal genotype-phenotype rule. Mouse and cell studies
implicate stereocilia regulation and maintenance, but failed espin-1 delivery, loss of tip localization and
normal mechanotransduction are not established universal features of DFNB30. In a nonsense knock-in mouse,
hearing deficits precede visible hair-cell degeneration. The MYO3A variants associated with dominant hearing
loss require separate allele-specific interpretation.
disease_term:
preferred_term: autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30
term:
id: MONDO:0011774
label: autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30
parents:
- Nonsyndromic Hearing Loss
notes: >-
Human evidence consists of families and small referral cohorts. The 2025 Japanese series reported nine candidate
probands among 15,684 hearing-loss patients, with clinical data for eight. Two genotypes include variants
classified as uncertain, and family segregation was unavailable. Its proportions describe this selected series
rather than phenotype frequencies in genetically confirmed DFNB30. Reported normal vision and balance in
the founding family support its nonsyndromic characterization; these observations do not establish lifelong
retinal protection. Vertigo reported in two Japanese probands remains uncertain because both carried a VUS
and neither had characterized vestibular testing. Mouse and cell experiments inform the mechanisms, with
explicit limits on transfer to patients.
references:
- reference: PMID:12032315
title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
- reference: PMID:27063751
title: Identification of a novel homozygous mutation in MYO3A in a Chinese family with DFNB30 non-syndromic hearing impairment.
- reference: PMID:34423747
title: Molecular insights into MYO3A kinase domain variants explain variability in both severity and progression of DFNB30 hearing impairment.
- reference: PMID:39858639
title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
- reference: PMID:19287378
title: Myosin IIIa boosts elongation of stereocilia by transporting espin 1 to the plus ends of actin filaments.
- reference: PMID:26754646
title: Class III myosins shape the auditory hair bundles by limiting microvilli and stereocilia growth.
- reference: PMID:21165622
title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
- reference: PMID:30123247
title: Knock-In Mice with Myo3a Y137C Mutation Displayed Progressive Hearing Loss and Hair Cell Degeneration in the Inner Ear.
- reference: PMID:26841241
title: MYO3A Causes Human Dominant Deafness and Interacts with Protocadherin 15-CD2 Isoform.
- reference: url:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/books/NBK1434/?report=reader
title: "Genetic Hearing Loss Overview - GeneReviews® - NCBI Bookshelf"
tags:
- GeneReviews
inheritance:
- name: Autosomal recessive
description: >-
Recessive MYO3A-associated hearing loss occurs with homozygous or compound heterozygous pathogenic variants.
The founding family came from the endogamous Jewish community of Mosul, Iraq; 18 affected relatives included
seven homozygotes and eleven compound heterozygotes. Other families were consanguineous. Distinct MYO3A
alleles can cause dominant hearing loss, so gene identity alone does not determine inheritance.
inheritance_term:
preferred_term: Autosomal recessive inheritance
term:
id: HP:0000007
label: Autosomal recessive inheritance
evidence:
- reference: PMID:12032315
reference_title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Of 18 affected relatives in Family N, 7 are homozygous and 11 are compound heterozygous for pairs of mutant alleles."
explanation: >-
The founding family establishes recessive inheritance in both homozygous and compound
heterozygous configurations.
- reference: PMID:27063751
reference_title: Identification of a novel homozygous mutation in MYO3A in a Chinese family with DFNB30 non-syndromic hearing impairment.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "A homozygous mutation, MYO3A:c.1841C>T (p.S614F), was identified to be responsible for the disease."
explanation: Independent confirmation of recessive inheritance in a consanguineous family.
pathophysiology:
- name: MYO3A Loss of Function
description: >-
Biallelic pathogenic MYO3A variants impair myosin IIIa function. The founding family carried a nonsense
allele and two splice-acceptor alleles. Lymphoblast RNA showed exon 18 skipping for one splice allele and
loss of stable message from the other; these are measured RNA effects outside the cochlea. Missense variants
also occur in motor and kinase domains, but reduced kinase activity is not equivalent to loss of motor
activity: experimentally engineered K50R retains motor activity and increases tip localization in COS-7
cells. The clinical K50R report combined family segregation with structural modelling and earlier in-vitro
evidence. Its proposed distinction between kinase-specific impairment and whole-protein dysfunction is
not a validated general predictor of onset or severity.
role: trigger
biological_scale: MOLECULAR
genes:
- preferred_term: MYO3A
term:
id: hgnc:7601
label: MYO3A
genetic_context:
functional_impact_category: LOSS_OF_FUNCTION
description: >-
Established truncating and splice alleles support loss of function; individual missense variants require
allele-specific evidence and cannot all be assumed to abolish both kinase and motor activities.
downstream:
- target: Altered Myosin IIIa Function at Stereocilia Tips
description: Variant-specific loss or alteration of myosin IIIa disrupts its regulation of stereocilia; the surviving protein and localization depend on the allele.
causal_link_type: INDIRECT_KNOWN_INTERMEDIATES
evidence:
- reference: PMID:12032315
reference_title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "In an extended Israeli family, nonsyndromic progressive hearing loss is caused by three different recessive, loss-of-function mutations in myosin IIIA."
explanation: Establishes loss of myosin IIIA function as the initiating lesion in humans.
- reference: PMID:34423747
reference_title: Molecular insights into MYO3A kinase domain variants explain variability in both severity and progression of DFNB30 hearing impairment.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: COMPUTATIONAL
directness: INDIRECT
snippet: "Our results suggest that KD mutations could either cause a congenital profound form of HI, when particularly affecting the kinase activity and preventing the auto-phosphorylation of the motor, or a late onset and progressive form, when partially or completely inactivating the MYO3A protein."
explanation: >-
Molecular-dynamics and structural modelling of kinase-domain variants; it proposes the
allele-class split recorded in this node's description and is graded COMPUTATIONAL and
INDIRECT because the phenotype claim follows from modelling rather than from measurement
in patients.
- reference: PMID:19287378
reference_title: Myosin IIIa boosts elongation of stereocilia by transporting espin 1 to the plus ends of actin filaments.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: IN_VITRO
snippet: Full-length myosin IIIa K50R localizes more efficiently to the tips of filopodia in COS-7 cells
explanation: Engineered kinase-dead construct; kinase impairment does not necessarily eliminate motor function or tip localization.
- reference: PMID:12032315
reference_title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: led to an unstable message, as revealed by the absence of message from this allele in persons who carried the mutation in their genomic DNA
explanation: Allele-specific transcript loss was assayed in lymphoblasts; patient cochlear RNA was not studied.
- name: Altered Myosin IIIa Function at Stereocilia Tips
description: >-
Myosin IIIa regulates actin protrusions at stereocilia tips. Espin-1 binding and transport were demonstrated
in COS-7 cells and organotypic hair-cell cultures. The roughly tenfold filopodial elongation used kinase-deleted
MYO3A with espin-1; wild-type MYO3A and kinase-dead K50R produced smaller effects. These construct-dependent
results do not establish obligatory espin-1 delivery failure in DFNB30. Espin-1 still localized to tips
in constitutive Myo3a/Myo3b double-null mouse hair cells. In the nonsense knock-in, C-terminal myosin IIIa
immunoreactivity was absent, but the antibody epitope lies beyond the truncation; this assay cannot exclude
an N-terminal truncated protein or establish loss of localization for every disease allele.
biological_scale: MOLECULAR
cellular_components:
- preferred_term: stereocilium tip
term:
id: GO:0032426
label: stereocilium tip
downstream:
- target: Disordered Stereocilia and Hair Bundle Architecture
description: Loss or alteration of class III myosin regulation can disrupt bundle architecture in mice; timing and severity depend on allele, paralogue and developmental stage.
causal_link_type: INDIRECT_KNOWN_INTERMEDIATES
- target: Cochlear Hearing Dysfunction
description: An early functional deficit is supported by abnormal ABR thresholds before visible degeneration in the nonsense knock-in. The intervening cellular defect was not measured directly.
causal_link_type: INDIRECT_UNKNOWN_INTERMEDIATES
- target: Progressive Hair Cell Degeneration
description: Impaired myosin IIIa function is followed by hair-cell degeneration in knock-in mice; the molecular steps causing cell death remain unresolved.
causal_link_type: INDIRECT_UNKNOWN_INTERMEDIATES
evidence:
- reference: PMID:19287378
reference_title: Myosin IIIa boosts elongation of stereocilia by transporting espin 1 to the plus ends of actin filaments.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: IN_VITRO
snippet: "This extraordinary filopodia elongation results from the transport of espin 1 to the plus ends of F-actin by myosin IIIa and depends on espin 1 WH2 activity."
explanation: >-
Cargo binding and transport in experimental cells; the largest elongation effect used a kinase-deleted
construct.
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
directness: INDIRECT
snippet: "Myosin IIIA, with a unique N-terminal kinase domain and a C-terminal actin-binding domain, localizes to the tips of stereocilia in wild-type mice but is absent in the mutant."
explanation: >-
The assay detects a C-terminal epitope lost by truncation; absence of staining does not establish absence
of every truncated protein species.
- reference: PMID:26754646
reference_title: Class III myosins shape the auditory hair bundles by limiting microvilli and stereocilia growth.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "Surprisingly, espin-1 is properly targeted to Myo3a(-/-)Myo3b(-/-) stereocilia tips."
explanation: >-
Preserved espin-1 targeting limits the obligatory cargo-delivery hypothesis; it does not refute altered
myosin function.
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: against a synthetic peptide (NPYDYRRLLRKTSQRQR) that matches the C-terminus sequence of the mouse myosin IIIA.
explanation: The methods identify the epitope and its relevance to interpreting negative staining.
- name: Disordered Stereocilia and Hair Bundle Architecture
description: >-
Constitutive deletion of both Myo3a and Myo3b causes embryonic and neonatal bundle abnormalities, including
excess stereocilia length and number, altered height grading and bundle rounding or closure. This developmental
double knockout is not equivalent to human single-gene DFNB30. The Y137C single-gene knock-in develops
fused or shortened stereocilia and abnormal tips with age, whereas nonsense knock-in bundles appeared normal
at P8, six months and 8.5 months despite earlier hearing deficits. In P7-P8 double-null apical hair cells
selected initially for near-normal bundle shape, OHC peak mechanotransduction current was approximately
halved and IHC/OHC response sensitivity was reduced; adaptation kinetics were preserved. Detectable currents
therefore do not establish normal transduction across cells, ages or human alleles.
biological_scale: CELLULAR
cell_types:
- preferred_term: auditory hair cell
term:
id: CL:0000202
label: auditory hair cell
cellular_components:
- preferred_term: stereocilium
term:
id: GO:0032420
label: stereocilium
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: auditory receptor cell stereocilium organization
modifier: ABNORMAL
term:
id: GO:0060088
label: auditory receptor cell stereocilium organization
downstream:
- target: Cochlear Hearing Dysfunction
description: Abnormal bundle mechanics can impair sensory responses. Mouse double-null currents retain adaptation but show reduced amplitude or sensitivity; patient physiology has not established the same intermediate.
causal_link_type: INDIRECT_KNOWN_INTERMEDIATES
evidence:
- reference: PMID:26754646
reference_title: Class III myosins shape the auditory hair bundles by limiting microvilli and stereocilia growth.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
directness: INDIRECT
snippet: "These include abnormally tall and numerous microvilli or stereocilia, ungraded stereocilia bundles, and bundle rounding and closure."
explanation: >-
The bundle-architecture phenotype of the class III myosin double mutant; INDIRECT because
it is a mouse double knockout, whereas DFNB30 is a single-gene human disease.
- reference: PMID:30123247
reference_title: Knock-In Mice with Myo3a Y137C Mutation Displayed Progressive Hearing Loss and Hair Cell Degeneration in the Inner Ear.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
directness: INDIRECT
snippet: "We also found structural abnormality in the cochlear hair cell stereocilia."
explanation: >-
Age-dependent bundle abnormality in the Y137C knock-in; not evidence that bundle disorganization precedes
hearing loss in all MYO3A models.
- reference: PMID:26754646
reference_title: Class III myosins shape the auditory hair bundles by limiting microvilli and stereocilia growth.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: The sensitivity of the MET response, measured by determining the maximum slope of the MET current-deflection relationship, was lower than that in controls for both IHCs and OHCs
explanation: P7-P8 apical double-null recordings; preserved adaptation did not imply normal response sensitivity.
- name: Progressive Hair Cell Degeneration
description: >-
Age-dependent cochlear hair-cell loss occurs in two Myo3a knock-in lines. In the nonsense model, ABR deficits
were significant at 2.5 months, but bundles appeared normally shaped through 8.5 months and degeneration
was described at ten and seventeen months. Thus degeneration can contribute to later deterioration but
does not explain the earliest measured deficit. In the Y137C model, hearing was normal at two months; hearing
deficits, stereocilia abnormalities and hair-cell degeneration were present at six months and worsened
at twelve months. Human cochlear tissue has not established this sequence directly.
biological_scale: CELLULAR
cell_types:
- preferred_term: cochlear outer hair cell
term:
id: CL:0000601
label: cochlear outer hair cell
downstream:
- target: Cochlear Hearing Dysfunction
description: Loss of cochlear hair cells reduces sensory capacity and can contribute to late hearing deterioration. It does not account for the earlier deficit in the nonsense knock-in.
causal_link_type: INDIRECT_KNOWN_INTERMEDIATES
evidence:
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
directness: INDIRECT
snippet: "Outer hair cells of Myo3a(KI/KI) mice degenerate with age in a pattern consistent with their progressive hearing loss."
explanation: >-
Ties age-dependent outer hair cell loss to the progression of threshold elevation in the
model carrying the human founding family's allele.
- reference: PMID:30123247
reference_title: Knock-In Mice with Myo3a Y137C Mutation Displayed Progressive Hearing Loss and Hair Cell Degeneration in the Inner Ear.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
directness: INDIRECT
snippet: "We observed degeneration in the inner ear hair cells of 6-month-old Myo3a mutant mice, and the degeneration became more severe at the age of 12 months."
explanation: Independent replication of age-dependent hair cell loss in a second knock-in line.
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: at 8 days, 6 months, and 8.5 months stereocilia hair bundles of mutant mice were shaped normally, with a well-organized stereocilia staircase, compared to wild-type littermates.
explanation: Normal-appearing bundles at these ages limit a universal structural-disorganization-first sequence.
- name: Cochlear Hearing Dysfunction
biological_scale: TISSUE
description: Impaired cochlear function produces sensorineural hearing loss. Human audiometry establishes bilateral, often high-frequency and progressive loss, with congenital profound presentations in other families. Mouse ABR measures a functional deficit; it does not alone identify the defective cellular process.
biological_processes:
- preferred_term: sensory perception of sound
modifier: DECREASED
term:
id: GO:0007605
label: sensory perception of sound
downstream:
- target: Progressive Sensorineural Hearing Impairment
description: Clinical expression of impaired auditory function; onset and course vary by family.
causal_link_type: DIRECT
- target: Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Impairment
description: Clinical expression of impaired auditory function; onset and course vary by family.
causal_link_type: DIRECT
- target: High-Frequency Predominant Audiometric Configuration
description: Clinical expression of impaired auditory function; onset and course vary by family.
causal_link_type: DIRECT
evidence:
- reference: PMID:12032315
reference_title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Members of three generations of Family N have experienced bilateral progressive hearing loss, which first affects the high frequencies.
explanation: Direct human audiometric phenotype.
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: In mutant mice, hearing loss is significant at 2.5 months and progresses first at high frequencies, then at all frequencies.
explanation: Functional hearing deficit precedes visible degeneration.
phenotypes:
- name: Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Impairment
category: Auditory
description: Bilateral hearing loss was explicitly reported in the founding family.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment
term:
id: HP:0008619
label: Bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment
evidence:
- reference: PMID:12032315
reference_title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Members of three generations of Family N have experienced bilateral progressive hearing loss, which first affects the high frequencies.
explanation: Direct human audiometric phenotype.
- name: Progressive Sensorineural Hearing Impairment
category: Auditory
description: >-
Progressive sensorineural hearing impairment is reported in the founding family and later series. Severe-to-profound
loss can develop, but rate and final degree vary and cannot be predicted from the small cross-sectional
Japanese series.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Progressive sensorineural hearing impairment
term:
id: HP:0000408
label: Progressive sensorineural hearing impairment
clinical_course: PROGRESSIVE
notes: >-
All eight clinically characterized Japanese probands reported progression. Two genotypes included a VUS
and family segregation was unavailable. The age-threshold plot was cross-sectional rather than serial audiometry
of the same patients; no disease-wide frequency or annual rate follows from it.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "The severity of their HL varied from mild to profound, and all patients were aware of HL progression at the time of their genetic testing."
explanation: Self-reported progression and prose severity range in a small candidate cohort; Table 2 lists moderate-to-profound loss in the eight characterized probands.
- reference: PMID:12032315
reference_title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "In an extended Israeli family, nonsyndromic progressive hearing loss is caused by three different recessive, loss-of-function mutations in myosin IIIA."
explanation: The founding description of the phenotype as nonsyndromic and progressive.
- name: Postlingual Onset Hearing Loss
category: Auditory
description: >-
Postlingual onset occurs in the founding family and Japanese series. Congenital presentations are also
reported, so postlingual onset is not required for diagnosis.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Postlingual sensorineural hearing impairment
term:
id: HP:0008596
label: Postlingual sensorineural hearing impairment
notes: >-
Eight characterized Japanese candidate probands reported onset at ages 10-30 years. These referral-cohort
observations are not a population frequency.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "The onset age of their HL varied from 10 to 30 years old (mean age: 19.6 years old), and all of them presented with post-lingual deterioration in hearing."
explanation: Numerator, onset range and post-lingual character in one sentence.
- name: Congenital Profound Sensorineural Hearing Loss
category: Auditory
description: >-
Congenital profound nonsyndromic hearing loss segregated with homozygous p.Lys50Arg in a Tunisian family.
A separate Kazakh family with homozygous p.Ser614Phe had congenital hearing loss, but the accessible abstract
does not specify its severity.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Congenital profound sensorineural hearing impairment
term:
id: HP:0011476
label: Profound sensorineural hearing impairment
onset:
onset_category: CONGENITAL
notes: >-
Profound hearing impairment is bound to HPO and congenital onset is represented separately. The Lys50Arg
clinical segregation supports the combined phenotype; the Ser614Phe abstract supports congenital onset
only. These families do not establish a frequency or a general kinase-domain genotype-phenotype rule.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:34423747
reference_title: Molecular insights into MYO3A kinase domain variants explain variability in both severity and progression of DFNB30 hearing impairment.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "This Lys50Arg mutation segregated with congenital profound non-syndromic HI."
explanation: >-
The segregation observation in the reported family; graded HUMAN_CLINICAL because this
sentence reports patients, unlike the same paper's modelling results.
- reference: PMID:27063751
reference_title: Identification of a novel homozygous mutation in MYO3A in a Chinese family with DFNB30 non-syndromic hearing impairment.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "In this study, we characterized a consanguineous Kazakh family with congenital hearing loss."
explanation: >-
A second, independently reported congenital presentation. It supports the congenital onset
only - this report does not grade the severity, so it is not a source for "profound".
- name: High-Frequency Predominant Audiometric Configuration
category: Auditory
description: >-
High frequencies can be affected first. Down-sloping and flat audiograms have both been reported.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: High-frequency sensorineural hearing impairment
term:
id: HP:0001757
label: High-frequency sensorineural hearing impairment
notes: >-
The founding family had high-frequency loss initially. Six of eight characterized Japanese candidate probands
had down-sloping audiograms and two had flat audiograms; this small series includes uncertain variants
and is not a disease-wide frequency estimate.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "The types of HL were categorized as down-sloping in six, and flat in two patients."
explanation: Numerator and denominator for the audiometric configuration.
- reference: PMID:12032315
reference_title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Members of three generations of Family N have experienced bilateral progressive hearing loss, which first affects the high frequencies.
explanation: Direct human audiometric phenotype.
- name: Vertigo
category: Vestibular
description: >-
Vertigo was reported by two probands in the Japanese candidate series, but both carried a VUS and the symptoms
were not characterized with vestibular tests. Its attribution to DFNB30 is unresolved.
phenotype_term:
preferred_term: Vertigo
term:
id: HP:0002321
label: Vertigo
notes: >-
Table 2 identifies the symptomatic probands as Family 1 (p.Glu770Lys VUS with a likely pathogenic splice
allele) and Family 4 (homozygous p.Ala238Thr VUS). The 2/8 proportion must not be treated as the frequency
of vestibular disease in confirmed DFNB30. A 57-year-old man homozygous for the founding nonsense allele
had normal formal ocular-motor and vestibular testing; normal findings in that individual do not refute
symptoms in other genotypes.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Two individuals complained of vertigo, but the specifics are unknown."
explanation: Reported symptoms in two uncertain genotypes; not proof of MYO3A-related vestibular dysfunction.
genetic:
- name: MYO3A
notes: >-
MYO3A encodes a class III myosin with kinase, motor and tail domains. In the founding family, a nonsense
allele and two splice alleles segregated as recessive disease; lymphoblast transcript assays supported
exon skipping or unstable message for the splice variants. Between ages 25 and 50, nonsense homozygotes
had poorer hearing than nonsense/splice compound heterozygotes, with similarly severe loss later in life.
This is a within-family association, not a universal prediction for all alleles. The Japanese series identified
eight candidate variants, two classified as uncertain (p.Glu770Lys and p.Ala238Thr), and lacked familial
segregation. Its failure to find a correlation does not negate the earlier family-specific observation.
Dominant MYO3A alleles require separate assessment; simple heterozygosity for an established recessive
allele is not itself diagnostic of dominant hearing loss.
relationship_type: CAUSATIVE
gene_term:
preferred_term: MYO3A
term:
id: hgnc:7601
label: MYO3A
evidence:
- reference: PMID:12032315
reference_title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Here, we show that normal hearing in humans requires myosin IIIA, the human homolog of NINAC."
explanation: The gene-disease assertion in its founding form.
- reference: PMID:12032315
reference_title: "From flies' eyes to our ears: mutations in a human class III myosin cause progressive nonsyndromic hearing loss DFNB30."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: Between ages 25 and 50, hearing across all frequencies was significantly poorer among individuals homozygous for the nonsense mutation
explanation: Within-family genotype association, comparing nonsense homozygotes with nonsense/splice compound heterozygotes.
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: "The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: As we were not able to conduct segregation analyses on the families of the probands due to a lack of peripheral blood samples, it is possible that the HL was due to other causes
explanation: Authors explicitly acknowledge uncertain attribution in the Japanese candidate series.
prevalence:
- population: Japanese hearing-loss patients screened by massively parallel sequencing
measure_type: UNKNOWN
prevalence_class: UNKNOWN
notes: >-
Nine candidate probands were identified among 15,684 Japanese hearing-loss patients (reported 0.06%). Two
genotypes included a VUS and familial segregation was unavailable, so this is a candidate detection proportion
in a referral cohort, not confirmed diagnostic yield or population prevalence. Eight probands had clinical
data. Literature case summaries cannot be treated as a complete count of affected individuals: the founding
family alone contained eighteen affected relatives.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "MYO3A is a relatively rare causative gene, and the prevalence of MYO3A-associated HL among Japanese HL patients is 0.06% (9/15,684)."
explanation: Numerator, denominator and proportion in one sentence.
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: "The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: As we were not able to conduct segregation analyses on the families of the probands due to a lack of peripheral blood samples, it is possible that the HL was due to other causes
explanation: Authors explicitly acknowledge uncertain attribution in the Japanese candidate series.
progression:
- phase: Onset
age_range: congenital to third decade
notes: >-
Reported onset spans congenital hearing loss and postlingual onset. The Japanese candidate series reported
10-30 years; small selected families do not demonstrate a bimodal population distribution.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "The onset age of their HL varied from 10 to 30 years old (mean age: 19.6 years old), and all of them presented with post-lingual deterioration in hearing."
explanation: The late-onset arm of the range.
- reference: PMID:34423747
reference_title: Molecular insights into MYO3A kinase domain variants explain variability in both severity and progression of DFNB30 hearing impairment.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "This Lys50Arg mutation segregated with congenital profound non-syndromic HI."
explanation: The congenital arm of the range.
- phase: Deterioration
age_range: adulthood
notes: >-
Progression to severe or profound loss was observed in reported families and described in the Japanese
series. Its cross-sectional age-threshold relationship and self-reported progression do not establish an
individual deterioration rate or an inevitable outcome for every allele.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "In particular, most of the cases identified in this study and previous reports showed progressive HL, eventually progressing to severe-to-profound HL."
explanation: States the trajectory across this series and prior reports.
treatments:
- name: Hearing Aid Amplification
description: >-
Hearing aids can improve access to sound when appropriate for measured hearing levels and communication
goals. Acoustic amplification uses residual auditory function; it does not bypass hair cells or correct
MYO3A dysfunction. The Japanese series recommends rehabilitation but does not measure DFNB30-specific hearing-aid
outcomes.
therapeutic_modality: DEVICE
treatment_term:
preferred_term: hearing aid amplification
term:
id: NCIT:C15315
label: Rehabilitation
qualifiers:
- predicate:
preferred_term: medical device
term:
id: NCIT:C16830
label: Medical Device
value:
preferred_term: hearing aid
term:
id: NCIT:C183182
label: Hearing Aid
evidence:
- reference: url:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/books/NBK1434/?report=reader
reference_title: "Genetic Hearing Loss Overview - GeneReviews® - NCBI Bookshelf"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: customized by an audiologist to the degree and frequency of hearing loss, can be used in individuals with mild-to-severe hearing loss.
explanation: General hereditary-hearing-loss guidance, not a DFNB30 outcome study.
- name: Cochlear Implantation
description: >-
Cochlear implantation may be considered for severe-to-profound hearing loss after specialist assessment
of candidacy and aided benefit. It electrically stimulates the auditory pathway, bypassing hair-cell transduction.
The Japanese DFNB30 study recommends considering implantation but does not provide implant outcomes or
prove preserved auditory-nerve function in every patient.
therapeutic_modality: SURGERY
treatment_term:
preferred_term: cochlear device implantation
term:
id: NCIT:C15329
label: Surgical Procedure
qualifiers:
- predicate:
preferred_term: medical device
term:
id: NCIT:C16830
label: Medical Device
value:
preferred_term: cochlear implant
term:
id: NCIT:C157820
label: Cochlear Implant
evidence:
- reference: url:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/books/NBK1434/?report=reader
reference_title: "Genetic Hearing Loss Overview - GeneReviews® - NCBI Bookshelf"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: Cochlear implantation can be considered in children with severe-to-profound hearing loss who are older than age nine months.
explanation: General GeneReviews guidance; eligibility depends on individual clinical assessment.
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: "The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: In addition, the evaluation of the outcomes of hearing aids or cochlear implantation will also be useful.
explanation: The authors identify treatment outcome measurement as future work.
- name: Genetic Counselling
treatment_term:
preferred_term: genetic counseling
term:
id: NCIT:C15240
label: Genetic Counseling
description: >-
Provide nondirective counseling after molecular confirmation. Recurrence risk is conditional on established
parental pathogenic genotypes, and testing relatives requires identification of the familial variants.
Distinguish recessive DFNB30 from allele-specific dominant MYO3A-associated hearing loss.
evidence:
- reference: url:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/books/NBK1434/?report=reader
reference_title: "Genetic Hearing Loss Overview - GeneReviews® - NCBI Bookshelf"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: If both parents are known to be heterozygous for an autosomal recessive hearing loss-related pathogenic variant, each sib of the proband has at conception a 25% chance of having hearing loss, a 50% chance of having no hearing loss and being a carrier, and a 25% chance of having no hearing loss and not being a carrier.
explanation: General recessive recurrence risk, conditional on established parental pathogenic variants.
- reference: url:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/books/NBK1434/?report=reader
reference_title: "Genetic Hearing Loss Overview - GeneReviews® - NCBI Bookshelf"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: Carrier testing for relatives who may have a hearing loss-related pathogenic variant requires prior identification of the pathogenic variants in the family.
explanation: Prerequisite for informative family testing.
- name: Communication and language support
description: Establish communication goals and provide appropriate language access, speech-language services and educational support. These are general measures for hearing loss, not evidence of a primary neurodevelopmental syndrome caused by MYO3A.
evidence:
- reference: url:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/books/NBK1434/?report=reader
reference_title: "Genetic Hearing Loss Overview - GeneReviews® - NCBI Bookshelf"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: On initial evaluation of individuals with hearing loss, the goals for communication must be established with a focus on equipping individuals with language and appropriate access to language.
explanation: General hearing-loss management.
diagnosis:
- name: Age-appropriate audiometry
description: >-
Age-appropriate audiometry characterizes degree, configuration and sensorineural status. The Japanese cohort
used pure-tone audiometry from age five and behavioral or evoked-response approaches in younger children.
Audiogram shape alone does not establish MYO3A causation.
diagnosis_term:
preferred_term: audiometric assessment
term:
id: NCIT:C38036
label: Audiometric Test
results: Sensorineural loss, mild to profound, usually down-sloping.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Pure-tone audiometry was used to assess hearing thresholds for patients aged 5 years and above, whereas auditory steady state response (ASSR), conditioned orientation response audiometry (COR: one type of the behavioral audiometry), or play audiometry were used for individuals under 5 years old."
explanation: >-
The audiometric methods used in the largest series, including the age threshold at which
they switch.
- name: Serial audiometric follow-up
description: >-
Repeated audiometry documents change and guides rehabilitation. It is useful for monitoring suspected or
confirmed progressive hearing loss, but serial deterioration is not a prerequisite for molecular diagnosis
and congenital presentations occur.
diagnosis_term:
preferred_term: serial audiometric follow-up
term:
id: NCIT:C38036
label: Audiometric Test
results: Individual trajectory assessed over time; no validated DFNB30-specific deterioration rate.
evidence:
- reference: url:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/books/NBK1434/?report=reader
reference_title: "Genetic Hearing Loss Overview - GeneReviews® - NCBI Bookshelf"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: 'Regular follow up is recommended for all individuals with genetic hearing loss in order to:'
explanation: General management guidance supports continued audiologic assessment.
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "A further prospective study will be useful in evaluating hearing deterioration through the use of the serial audiometric testing results from the same patient."
explanation: >-
The Japanese study lacked same-patient longitudinal audiometry; it recommends prospective measurement.
- name: Massively parallel sequencing of a hearing-loss gene panel
description: >-
A hearing-loss multigene panel or genomic testing can assess MYO3A alongside other hearing-loss genes.
The Japanese study used a 158-gene panel and read-depth copy-number analysis. Interpretation requires pathogenicity
assessment and, where possible, confirmation that two variants are in trans. MYO3A need not be tested only
after excluding each more common gene.
diagnosis_term:
preferred_term: massively parallel sequencing of a targeted hearing-loss gene panel
term:
id: NCIT:C101293
label: Next Generation Sequencing
results: Biallelic pathogenic or likely pathogenic MYO3A variants consistent with recessive inheritance support DFNB30; unresolved variants or phase require further assessment.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "Among these subjects, we selected patients with biallelic MYO3A variants through MPS of 158 target genes."
explanation: The testing modality and the biallelic requirement in one sentence.
- reference: url:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/books/NBK1434/?report=reader
reference_title: "Genetic Hearing Loss Overview - GeneReviews® - NCBI Bookshelf"
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: OTHER
snippet: can often identify the cause of genetic hearing loss while limiting identification of pathogenic variants and variants of uncertain significance in genes that are irrelevant to the underlying phenotype.
explanation: General guidance for hearing-loss panels.
- name: Variant interpretation under the ClinGen hearing-loss specification
description: >-
Variant classification, segregation and phase distinguish a molecular diagnosis from an uncertain candidate
genotype. The Japanese series used ACMG/AMP criteria with hearing-loss specifications, but p.Glu770Lys
and p.Ala238Thr remained uncertain and family segregation was unavailable. A VUS does not establish or
exclude DFNB30; dominant MYO3A-associated hearing loss must also be considered for appropriate alleles
and pedigrees.
diagnosis_term:
preferred_term: variant classification
term:
id: NCIT:C19770
label: Molecular Analysis
results: Allele-specific classification and inheritance assessment; uncertain genotypes remain unresolved.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "The pathogenicity of identified variants was evaluated according to the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) standards and guidelines"
explanation: >-
Study classification framework; Table 1 and segregation limitations must accompany its interpretation.
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: "The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients."
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: As we were not able to conduct segregation analyses on the families of the probands due to a lack of peripheral blood samples, it is possible that the HL was due to other causes
explanation: Authors explicitly acknowledge uncertain attribution in the Japanese candidate series.
differential_diagnoses:
- name: Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis)
description: >-
Age-related hearing loss can overlap with later-recognized progressive sensorineural impairment. Age at
onset, family history and molecular findings help distinguish inherited disease; the cited paper does not
establish presbycusis as the main cause of DFNB30 underdiagnosis.
distinguishing_features:
- Onset in the second or third decade rather than in late middle age
- Biallelic MYO3A variants on panel or exome testing
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "However, the elucidation of HL causation becomes more challenging when related to late-onset HL, as multiple factors, such as presbycusis, idiopathic sudden SNHL, environmental risk factors, etc., can be involved."
explanation: >-
Names presbycusis and idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss as the confounders for
exactly the presentation DFNB30 produces.
- name: Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
description: >-
The Japanese study lists idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss among competing explanations for
later-onset hearing loss. Clinical chronology helps distinguish abrupt loss from a progressive inherited
course.
distinguishing_features:
- Abrupt onset over hours to days rather than progressive deterioration over years
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "However, the elucidation of HL causation becomes more challenging when related to late-onset HL, as multiple factors, such as presbycusis, idiopathic sudden SNHL, environmental risk factors, etc., can be involved."
explanation: The same sentence names it as a competing explanation for late-onset hearing loss.
- name: Other autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss, principally GJB2, SLC26A4 and CDH23
description: >-
Other hearing-loss genes can produce overlapping nonsyndromic presentations. Multigene testing evaluates
these alternatives together; DFNB30 is not a diagnosis of exclusion after each common gene is tested.
distinguishing_features:
- Pathogenic variants and appropriate segregation in the causative gene
- Onset and audiometric configuration overlap and cannot by themselves assign the gene
evidence:
- reference: PMID:39858639
reference_title: The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of MYO3A-Associated Hearing Loss in 15,684 Hearing Loss Patients.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: "The major causative genes of ARSNHL in Japanese patients are GJB2 (16%), SLC26A4 (5%) and CDH23 (4%), and the detection of causative genes for HL has become significantly more achievable through the introduction of massively parallel DNA sequencing (MPS) analysis [5]."
explanation: >-
Cohort-specific contributions motivate multigene assessment, not a required sequence of gene exclusions.
- name: Autosomal dominant MYO3A-related hearing loss
description: >-
The same gene, a different disease. A motor-domain missense allele segregates as an autosomal
dominant trait, so a MYO3A variant report does not by itself establish DFNB30 - the zygosity
and the segregation do.
distinguishing_features:
- A variant with evidence supporting a dominant effect, rather than any heterozygous MYO3A finding
- Segregation and allele-specific functional evidence supporting dominant inheritance
evidence:
- reference: PMID:26841241
reference_title: MYO3A Causes Human Dominant Deafness and Interacts with Protocadherin 15-CD2 Isoform.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: HUMAN_CLINICAL
snippet: In a family with post-lingual progressive non-syndromic deafness, whole-exome sequencing of genomic DNA from five hearing-impaired relatives revealed a single variant, p.Gly488Glu (rs145970949:G>A) in MYO3A, co-segregating with HL as an autosomal dominant trait.
explanation: Primary dominant-family report, distinct from recessive DFNB30.
animal_models:
- name: Myo3a knock-in mouse (human nonsense allele equivalent)
species: Mouse
genotype: Myo3a(KI/KI), knock-in of the mouse equivalent of the human MYO3A nonsense allele
publication: PMID:21165622
description: >-
C57BL/6 knock-in of the human founding nonsense allele equivalent, compared with wild-type littermates.
ABR deficits begin at 2.5 months and progress; bundles appear normally shaped through 8.5 months, followed
by hair-cell degeneration at ten and seventeen months. Vestibular reaching and forced-swim tests were normal.
modeled_mechanisms:
- target: Progressive Hair Cell Degeneration
relationship: RECAPITULATES
fidelity: MODERATE
description: >-
Later outer-hair-cell loss recapitulates a plausible contributor to progressive cochlear dysfunction;
human tissue pathology is not available.
limitations: >-
The model carries one nonsense allele on a mouse background. Early hearing loss precedes visible degeneration,
and mouse ages do not predict human onset. Outer-hair-cell counts used three animals per genotype; inner
hair cells could not be counted consistently.
readouts:
- name: Outer hair cell survival
target: Progressive Hair Cell Degeneration
direction: DECREASED
interpretation: Structural correlate of the degeneration node in this model.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "Outer hair cells of Myo3a(KI/KI) mice degenerate with age in a pattern consistent with their progressive hearing loss."
explanation: The histological measurement behind this readout.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "The phenotype of the Myo3a(KI/KI) mouse parallels the phenotype of human DFNB30."
explanation: The authors' own assessment that this model is informative for the human disease.
- target: Altered Myosin IIIa Function at Stereocilia Tips
relationship: PARTIALLY_RECAPITULATES
fidelity: LOW
description: >-
Loss of C-terminal myosin IIIa staining after truncation.
limitations: >-
The antibody recognizes the C-terminal epitope removed by the mutation; it cannot exclude residual N-terminal
protein.
readouts:
- name: C-terminal myosin IIIa immunoreactivity at stereocilia tips
target: Altered Myosin IIIa Function at Stereocilia Tips
direction: ABOLISHED
interpretation: C-terminal staining is absent; complete absence or failed targeting of every mutant protein species is not demonstrated.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "Myosin IIIA, with a unique N-terminal kinase domain and a C-terminal actin-binding domain, localizes to the tips of stereocilia in wild-type mice but is absent in the mutant."
explanation: Epitope-dependent localization assay; interpreted with the methods.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: against a synthetic peptide (NPYDYRRLLRKTSQRQR) that matches the C-terminus sequence of the mouse myosin IIIA.
explanation: The methods identify the epitope and its relevance to interpreting negative staining.
- target: Cochlear Hearing Dysfunction
relationship: RECAPITULATES
fidelity: MODERATE
description: Progressive functional hearing deficit with a human disease-allele equivalent.
limitations: ABR is not a direct assay of the cellular cause of the early deficit.
readouts:
- name: Auditory brainstem response threshold
target: Cochlear Hearing Dysfunction
direction: INCREASED
interpretation: >-
ABR thresholds rise from 2.5 months, before visible hair-cell degeneration.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:21165622
reference_title: A mouse model for human hearing loss DFNB30 due to loss of function of myosin IIIA.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: In mutant mice, hearing loss is significant at 2.5 months and progresses first at high frequencies, then at all frequencies.
explanation: Functional hearing deficit precedes visible degeneration.
- name: Myo3a Y137C knock-in mouse
species: Mouse
genotype: Myo3a Y137C kinase-domain missense knock-in, generated by CRISPR/Cas9
publication: PMID:30123247
description: >-
CBA/CaJ kinase-domain Y137C knock-in made by CRISPR/Cas9. ABR thresholds were normal at two months and
elevated at six and twelve months, when stereocilia abnormalities and hair-cell loss were present. A noise
challenge at 4.5 months showed no significant genotype difference in threshold shifts under that protocol,
so it does not establish increased noise susceptibility.
modeled_mechanisms:
- target: Disordered Stereocilia and Hair Bundle Architecture
relationship: RECAPITULATES
fidelity: MODERATE
description: >-
Structural abnormality of cochlear hair cell stereocilia in a single-gene Myo3a mutant.
limitations: >-
The CBA/CaJ mouse Y137C substitution was designed to model human Y129C, but the human family data were
not shown in this paper. Stereocilia were intact at two months and abnormal at six and twelve months.
Positive FM1-43 uptake is a proxy, not proof of normal mechanotransduction currents across age. The paper
did not directly measure mutant kinase activity.
readouts:
- name: Cochlear hair cell stereocilia structure
target: Disordered Stereocilia and Hair Bundle Architecture
direction: ALTERED
interpretation: Structural correlate of the bundle-architecture node.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:30123247
reference_title: Knock-In Mice with Myo3a Y137C Mutation Displayed Progressive Hearing Loss and Hair Cell Degeneration in the Inner Ear.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "We also found structural abnormality in the cochlear hair cell stereocilia."
explanation: The structural measurement behind this readout.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:30123247
reference_title: Knock-In Mice with Myo3a Y137C Mutation Displayed Progressive Hearing Loss and Hair Cell Degeneration in the Inner Ear.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "Our results showed that Myo3a is essential for normal hearing by maintaining the intact structure of hair cell stereocilia, and the kinase domain plays a critical role in the normal functions of Myo3a."
explanation: The authors' statement of what the model establishes about the mechanism.
- name: Myo3a/Myo3b double knockout mouse
species: Mouse
genotype: Myo3a(-/-)Myo3b(-/-) double knockout
publication: PMID:26754646
description: >-
Not a model of DFNB30 but of class III myosin function generally: removing both paralogues
produces profound deafness and a grossly abnormal hair bundle, and it is the source of the
finding that these motors limit rather than only promote stereocilia elongation.
modeled_mechanisms:
- target: Disordered Stereocilia and Hair Bundle Architecture
relationship: PARTIALLY_RECAPITULATES
fidelity: LOW
description: >-
Reproduces disordered bundle architecture, but only when both class III myosins are
removed - so it speaks to the pathway rather than to the human single-gene disease.
limitations: >-
Constitutive deletion of both paralogues causes a developmental phenotype distinct from human single-gene
DFNB30. In the same study, Myo3a deletion beginning postnatally on a Myo3b-null background left ABR and
DPOAE normal through six months, while postnatal Myo3a loss with Myo3b intact raised ABR thresholds.
Timing and paralogue context therefore preclude a simple lifelong protective-compensation model.
readouts:
- name: Hair bundle morphology
target: Disordered Stereocilia and Hair Bundle Architecture
direction: ALTERED
interpretation: >-
Abnormally tall and numerous stereocilia with loss of height grading, in the double
mutant.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:26754646
reference_title: Class III myosins shape the auditory hair bundles by limiting microvilli and stereocilia growth.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "These include abnormally tall and numerous microvilli or stereocilia, ungraded stereocilia bundles, and bundle rounding and closure."
explanation: The morphological measurement behind this readout.
evidence:
- reference: PMID:26754646
reference_title: Class III myosins shape the auditory hair bundles by limiting microvilli and stereocilia growth.
supports: SUPPORT
evidence_source: MODEL_ORGANISM
snippet: "We show that Myo3a(-/-)Myo3b(-/-) mice lacking myosin IIIa and myosin IIIb are profoundly deaf, whereas Myo3a-cKO Myo3b(-/-) mice lacking myosin IIIb and losing myosin IIIa postnatally have normal hearing."
explanation: >-
The comparison that both establishes the double mutant's deafness and limits how far it
can be read as a MYO3A model.
discussions:
- discussion_id: dfnb30_longitudinal_retinal_assessment
kind: KNOWLEDGE_GAP
prompt: >-
How well has long-term retinal function been assessed in DFNB30?
attaches_to:
- phenotypes#
rationale: >-
The founding study explicitly reported normal vision and balance in affected relatives, and the Lys50Arg
family report also described normal ocular and vestibular findings. These are positive reports of assessment,
not merely absence of volunteered complaints. They do not establish systematic longitudinal electroretinography
or lifelong absence of retinal disease; retinal expression alone does not establish a clinical retinal
phenotype.
- discussion_id: dfnb30_espin1_transport_model_mismatch
kind: HUMAN_MODEL_MISMATCH
prompt: >-
Is the espin-1 cargo-transport model the mechanism of DFNB30, given that espin-1 still
reaches stereocilia tips in mice lacking both class III myosins?
attaches_to:
- pathophysiology#Altered Myosin IIIa Function at Stereocilia Tips
rationale: >-
COS-7 and organotypic experiments demonstrate MYO3A/espin-1 interaction and construct-dependent protrusion
elongation; the roughly tenfold effect used kinase-deleted MYO3A in COS-7 cells. Constitutive double-null
mouse hair cells retained espin-1 tip localization and developed excessively long, poorly organized bundles.
These model-to-model differences limit obligatory cargo-delivery failure as the mechanism in patients.
- discussion_id: dfnb30_kinase_domain_genotype_phenotype
kind: KNOWLEDGE_GAP
prompt: >-
Do MYO3A kinase-domain alleles really separate congenital profound from late-onset
progressive hearing loss?
attaches_to:
- pathophysiology#MYO3A Loss of Function
rationale: >-
Structural modelling proposes different consequences for kinase-specific impairment and wider protein dysfunction.
The founding family showed a narrower genotype association between nonsense homozygotes and nonsense/splice
compound heterozygotes, while the Japanese candidate series did not detect a correlation. These small and
differently ascertained datasets neither validate a universal allele-domain rule nor establish a bimodal
population onset distribution. Direct allele-resolved functional and longitudinal clinical evidence is
needed.
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Create: Autosomal Recessive Nonsyndromic Hearing Loss 30 (DFNB30) · 2026-09-04T20:43:18Z · View source
De-novo curation of DFNB30 (MONDO:0011774), biallelic MYO3A. Four-node pathograph: MYO3A loss of function -> failure of myosin IIIa delivery to stereocilia tips -> disordered stereocilia and hair bundle architecture -> progressive hair cell degeneration, feeding five wired phenotypes (progressive SNHL, postlingual onset, congenital profound, high-frequency-predominant configuration, vertigo). Nine PMIDs cited, 41/41 snippets verified against the local cache, no DOI-only citations. Human evidence is three reports totalling ~30 patients, so every frequency band carries its numerator/denominator in notes. Mechanism evidence is mouse and cell culture and is graded MODEL_ORGANISM/IN_VITRO with directness INDIRECT where it supports a human claim. Three negative or contradicting results are curated as REFUTE items rather than dropped: espin-1 still reaches stereocilia tips in the class III myosin double knockout, congenital onset refutes obligate postlingual onset, and both a formally examined DFNB30 patient and the knock-in mouse have normal vestibular function against the reported vertigo. Three discussions record the open questions (unassessed retinal involvement despite strong retinal MYO3A expression, the in-vitro/in-vivo mismatch in the espin-1 transport model, and the unresolved kinase-domain genotype-phenotype proposal). A Falcon deep-research report is committed alongside; preflight-dr PASS with MYO3A mentioned 52 times, reference validation 8/8 verified with 0 confabulation.
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Autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30 (DFNB30) is a very rare Mendelian sensorineural hearing-loss disorder caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in MYO3A, encoding the actin-based motor myosin IIIA. Its defining phenotype is bilateral, progressive hearing loss without a consistent extra-auditory syndrome. Onset is variable—from congenital hearing loss to the second decade—and progression can culminate in severe-to-profound loss. MYO3A dysfunction compromises the dimensions and maintenance of cochlear hair-cell stereocilia, probably through impaired motor activity, kinase regulation, actin interaction, and transport/regulation of stereociliary cargoes such as espin-1 and espin-like. The phenotype is distinct from autosomal-dominant MYO3A-associated hearing loss produced by particular heterozygous dominant-negative alleles. (OpenTargets Search: autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30-MYO3A, doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2, dantas2018characterizationofa pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2)
| Domain | Established finding | Evidence type | Ontology/identifier suggestions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disease identity | Autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30 (DFNB30), a Mendelian nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing-loss disorder | Aggregated disease-resource association plus human molecular genetics (OpenTargets Search: autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30-MYO3A) | MONDO:0011774; synonym: DFNB30 |
| Causal gene | Biallelic loss-of-function or damaging variants in MYO3A (myosin IIIA) cause DFNB30; heterozygous dominant MYO3A disease is a distinct allelic disorder (OpenTargets Search: autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30-MYO3A, doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2, dantas2018characterizationofa pages 1-2) | Human pedigrees, sequencing, segregation, functional studies | MYO3A; OMIM gene 606808; Ensembl ENSG00000095777 |
| Inheritance | Autosomal recessive; affected individuals are homozygous or compound heterozygous, whereas heterozygous relatives are generally carriers unless they harbor a distinct dominant-acting allele | Human family segregation (doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2, dantas2018characterizationofa pages 1-2) | Autosomal recessive inheritance; germline variant |
| Core phenotype | Bilateral, nonsyndromic, progressive sensorineural hearing loss, often initially affecting high frequencies; reported onset ranges from congenital to the second decade and may ultimately reach severe-to-profound levels (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 6-8, doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2) | Human clinical audiology and cohorts | Sensorineural hearing impairment; bilateral hearing impairment; progressive hearing impairment; high-frequency hearing impairment; profound hearing impairment |
| Anatomy and mechanism | MYO3A localizes near the tips of cochlear and vestibular hair-cell stereocilia. Impaired actin-based motor/cargo regulation disrupts stereocilia length, spacing, staircase organization, and consequently mechanotransduction (dantas2018characterizationofa pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 2-4, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2) | Hair-cell studies, biochemical/cellular assays, mouse models; final mechanotransduction link partly inferred | Cochlea; organ of Corti; inner and outer hair cell; stereocilium; actin cytoskeleton; sensory perception of sound |
| Epidemiology | Nine candidate individuals were found among 15,684 Japanese hearing-loss referrals—0.06% of that referral cohort, not population prevalence (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 6-8) | 2025 multicenter referral-cohort sequencing study | Rare disease; prevalence among hearing-loss referrals |
| Diagnosis | Confirm sensorineural loss and progression with age-appropriate audiometry, otoacoustic emissions and/or auditory brainstem response, then identify pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants on both MYO3A alleles using a comprehensive hearing-loss panel, exome, or genome sequencing with segregation and copy-number analysis as appropriate (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 2-4, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 12-13) | Clinical audiology plus molecular diagnosis; general hereditary-hearing-loss practice | Pure-tone audiometry; auditory brainstem response; otoacoustic emission; molecular genetic testing; biallelic genotype |
| Current management | No disease-modifying MYO3A-specific treatment is established. Management follows hearing-loss severity and communication needs: serial audiology, hearing aids, cochlear implantation when indicated, and speech/language, auditory, educational, or sign-language support | Standard-of-care extrapolation from nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss; not tested specifically in DFNB30 | Hearing aid; cochlear implantation; audiologic rehabilitation; speech-language therapy |
| Experimental therapy | No MYO3A-targeted gene, RNA, cell, or pharmacologic therapy trial was identified; current hereditary-hearing-loss gene-therapy trials target other genes and should not be represented as DFNB30 trials | Clinical-trial search and literature review | Gene therapy—investigational; no DFNB30-specific intervention |
| Model organisms | MYO3A loss-of-function mouse models develop progressive hearing loss beginning at high frequencies and later involving broader frequencies, with abnormal stereocilia; combined Myo3a/Myo3b loss produces a stronger phenotype, indicating partial redundancy (doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2, dantas2018characterizationofa pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 2-4) | Knock-in/knockout mouse models | Mus musculus; Myo3a knock-in/knockout; auditory hair cell; abnormal stereocilium morphology |
Table: Concise evidence-based summary of DFNB30 identity, phenotype, mechanism, frequency, diagnosis, management, and models. It separates established disease-specific findings from standard-care extrapolation and investigational gaps.
DFNB30 is an inherited, usually bilateral, progressive nonsyndromic sensorineural hearing loss caused by pathogenic variants affecting both MYO3A alleles. “Nonsyndromic” means that hearing impairment is the primary consistent clinical manifestation; it does not imply that every reported patient is free of coincidental symptoms such as vertigo. Open Targets identifies one associated target, MYO3A, for this disease. (OpenTargets Search: autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30-MYO3A)
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Preferred name | Autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30 |
| Common synonyms | DFNB30; deafness, autosomal recessive 30; MYO3A-related autosomal recessive hearing loss; MYO3A-related DFNB30 |
| MONDO | MONDO:0011774 |
| Causal gene | MYO3A, myosin IIIA; Ensembl ENSG00000095777 |
| Gene OMIM | 606808 |
| Disease OMIM | Commonly represented as 607101; users should verify against the current OMIM release before database ingestion |
| Orphanet | No confidently disease-specific ORPHA identifier was recovered; it may be nested under genetic nonsyndromic deafness classifications |
| ICD-10-CM | No DFNB30-specific code; use phenotype codes such as H90.3 for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss as clinically appropriate |
| ICD-11 | No known gene-specific DFNB30 code; classify under sensorineural hearing loss |
| MeSH | No DFNB30-specific descriptor; relevant headings include Hearing Loss, Sensorineural and Hearing Loss, Genetic |
The original disease evidence was patient-level pedigree and molecular-genetic evidence. Modern MONDO/Open Targets entries and review resources are aggregated disease-level representations of those cases—not individual EHR records. Open Targets cites literature including PMIDs 12032315, 21165622, 26841241, 29880844, and 33078831 in support of the MYO3A association. (OpenTargets Search: autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30-MYO3A)
The landmark report was Walsh et al., PNAS, published 28 May 2002, DOI 10.1073/pnas.102091699, PMID 12032315. Its abstract states: “In an extended Israeli family, nonsyndromic progressive hearing loss is caused by three different recessive, loss-of-function mutations in myosin IIIA.” It further reports that, among 18 affected relatives, seven were homozygous and 11 compound heterozygous. (souissi2022molecularinsightsinto pages 12-13)
The primary cause is germline biallelic MYO3A dysfunction. Established disease alleles include nonsense, frameshift, splice-disrupting, and damaging missense variants in the kinase, motor, and tail regions. The 2002 Family N carried three recessive loss-of-function alleles; later families expanded the spectrum and demonstrated congenital as well as delayed-onset disease. (doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 2-4)
Representative reported variants include:
Allele frequencies in the recent Japanese series were below 0.0007. Exact gnomAD frequencies must be retrieved by transcript/build and variant; rarity alone is not evidence of pathogenicity. Variants are germline, not somatic. (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 6-8)
| Phenotype | Characterization | Suggested HPO annotation |
|---|---|---|
| Sensorineural hearing impairment | Defining manifestation; usually bilateral and nonsyndromic | Sensorineural hearing impairment; Bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment |
| Progressive hearing impairment | Common defining course; all eight clinically characterized individuals in the 2025 Japanese series recognized progression | Progressive hearing impairment |
| High-frequency-predominant loss | Characteristic in original Family N and mouse model; six of eight recent audiograms were down-sloping | High-frequency hearing impairment |
| Severe/profound hearing loss | May be congenital for severe alleles or arise after progression | Severe hearing impairment; Profound hearing impairment |
| Postlingual hearing impairment | Common in later-onset disease; recent cohort onset usually 10–30 years | Postlingual hearing impairment |
| Congenital hearing impairment | Documented with some kinase/motor-domain alleles | Congenital sensorineural hearing impairment |
| Vertigo/vestibular symptom | Reported in two recent subjects, but not sufficiently consistent to redefine DFNB30 as syndromic | Vertigo, if clinically documented |
In the 2025 Japanese referral cohort, clinical data from eight patients showed onset at 10–30 years (mean 19.6 years), mild-to-profound severity, six down-sloping and two flat audiograms, and recognized progression in all eight. Two reported vertigo. The broader literature supports onset from birth through the second decade and eventual severe-to-profound loss. (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 6-8, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2)
Phenotype frequencies cannot be generalized reliably because published cases are few and ascertainment is biased. The strongest qualitative conclusions are bilateral sensorineural loss, progression, and frequent early high-frequency involvement. There is no validated DFNB30-specific EQ-5D, SF-36, PROMIS, behavioral, or laboratory phenotype. Expected consequences of inadequately treated hearing loss include impaired speech perception, communication, education, employment, and social participation, especially when onset occurs before or during language acquisition; these are general hearing-loss consequences rather than quantified DFNB30-specific outcomes.
MYO3A lies at chromosome 10p12.1, has 33 exons, and encodes myosin IIIA. Its architecture comprises an N-terminal serine/threonine kinase region, an actin-activated ATPase motor/head, a neck containing three IQ/calmodulin-binding motifs, and a specialized C-terminal tail with actin- and cargo-interaction functions. (doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2)
Pathogenic mechanisms are principally loss of function or severe functional impairment. Truncating and canonical splice variants may cause absent/truncated protein or nonsense-mediated decay. Missense variants can disrupt ATP binding, kinase autophosphorylation, actin binding, ATPase cycling, motility, or tip localization. Both intact motor and tail domains are needed for normal tip localization and actin-protrusion regulation. (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 2-4)
Variant interpretation should use ACMG/AMP criteria with hearing-loss specifications, population frequency, phase, segregation, phenotype consistency, and functional evidence. A VUS must not be used alone for predictive testing or reproductive decision-making. No recurrent large chromosomal abnormality, repeat expansion, mitochondrial lesion, or somatic event defines DFNB30. No clinically established DNA-methylation, histone, or other epigenetic signature is known.
Particular heterozygous MYO3A motor/kinase variants cause a distinct autosomal-dominant allelic disorder. For example, p.Leu697Trp reduces ATPase activity and motility, increases actin affinity, displaces wild-type MYO3A at stereocilia tips, and acts dominantly negatively. It must not be conflated with recessive DFNB30. (dantas2018characterizationofa pages 1-2, dantas2018characterizationofa pages 10-11, dantas2018characterizationofa pages 2-3)
DFNB30 is not an infectious, toxic, nutritional, occupational, or lifestyle-induced disease. No pathogen, immune trigger, smoking effect, dietary factor, radiation exposure, or pollution exposure has been shown to cause it. General cochlear hazards—intense noise, aminoglycosides, platinum chemotherapy, and other ototoxic agents—may add acquired injury to genetically vulnerable hearing but have not been shown to interact specifically with MYO3A. Such exposures should be documented as comorbidity or possible aggravators, not disease causes.
This is primarily a cytoskeletal mechanotransduction disorder, not a canonical Wnt, MAPK, PI3K–AKT, immune, inflammatory, or metabolic disease. Relevant processes include actin-filament organization, actin-dependent motor activity, protein transport along actin, stereocilium organization, sensory perception of sound, and auditory receptor-cell development/maintenance. Suggested GO concepts are actin filament organization, actin-dependent ATPase activity, microfilament motor activity, stereocilium organization, protein localization to stereocilium, and sensory perception of sound.
The principal cells are cochlear inner and outer hair cells—suggested CL concepts: auditory hair cell, inner hair cell, and outer hair cell. Vestibular hair-cell expression is documented, although clinically important vestibular disease is inconsistent. MYO3A localizes at the stereociliary tip and associates with the F-actin cytoskeleton and plasma-membrane-adjacent tip complex. (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2, doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2)
No validated DFNB30 patient transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, lipidomic, spatial-transcriptomic, or single-cell disease signature was found. Available molecular profiling is principally expression/localization, biochemical motor assays, structural modeling, cultured-cell protrusion assays, and animal hair-bundle morphology.
No consistent secondary-organ disease is established despite MYO3A expression in retina; the human DFNB30 phenotype remains nonsyndromic. (doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2)
Onset varies from congenital to the second decade. Classic Family N developed bilateral high-frequency loss beginning in the second decade, whereas some later kinase- or motor-domain genotypes caused congenital profound loss. The condition is chronic and lifelong. Progression is generally insidious rather than episodic, initially affecting higher frequencies and later broader frequencies. (doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2)
No formal staging system or genotype-specific annual dB progression rate exists. Practical stages are: detectable high-frequency loss; broader speech-frequency involvement; severe-to-profound hearing loss requiring increasingly intensive rehabilitation. Spontaneous remission is not expected. Critical intervention periods include infancy and early childhood for congenital cases and the interval before speech-frequency deterioration in later-onset cases.
Inheritance is autosomal recessive. When both parents are heterozygous carriers, each pregnancy has a 25% probability of an affected child, 50% probability of an unaffected carrier, and 25% probability of inheriting neither familial allele. Both sexes should be affected equally. Penetrance appears high for clearly pathogenic biallelic genotypes but may be age-dependent; exact penetrance estimates are unavailable. Expressivity is variable in onset and severity. Anticipation has not been reported. Germline mosaicism is theoretically possible but not established as a recurrent feature.
The original extended Israeli Jewish family and subsequent Kazakh, Chinese, Tunisian/North African, Cameroonian, and Japanese cases demonstrate broad geographic distribution. Consanguinity has facilitated discovery, but DFNB30 is not limited to consanguineous families. No universally important founder allele or reliable global carrier frequency has been established. (doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2, dantas2018characterizationofa pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 12-13)
In the largest recent study, nine candidates were detected among 15,684 Japanese hearing-loss referrals, or 0.06%. This is a clinic-based proportion—not population prevalence or annual incidence. Before that study, only 13 cases had reportedly been published. Disease-specific prevalence per 100,000 and incidence are unknown. (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 6-8, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 2-4)
Diagnosis starts with otoscopy and age-appropriate audiology: pure-tone and speech audiometry, tympanometry, otoacoustic emissions, and auditory brainstem response when behavioral testing is unreliable. Serial audiograms are important because progression is central to DFNB30. Vestibular testing is appropriate when vertigo or imbalance is present. CT/MRI is not diagnostic of DFNB30 and should be reserved for cochlear-implant planning, asymmetric findings, or suspected structural disease.
There is no characteristic blood, urine, enzyme, metabolite, biopsy, or circulating biomarker. The molecular biomarker is a pathogenic/likely pathogenic biallelic MYO3A genotype in trans consistent with phenotype and inheritance.
The 2025 multicenter study used massively parallel sequencing of 158 hearing-loss genes, illustrating current real-world implementation and why a panel is preferable to sequential single-gene testing in this genetically heterogeneous phenotype. (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 2-4)
CMA, karyotyping, FISH, mitochondrial DNA testing, and repeat-expansion testing are not first-line DFNB30 tests unless other clinical findings suggest an alternative diagnosis. Differential diagnoses include other progressive nonsyndromic hearing-loss genes—such as TMC1, TMPRSS3, MYO15A, POU4F3, ACTG1, and dominant MYO3A alleles—plus congenital CMV, noise/ototoxic injury, auditory neuropathy, and syndromic hearing loss.
Newborn physiologic hearing screening remains essential but may miss delayed-onset DFNB30. Once a familial genotype is known, cascade testing can identify siblings or relatives requiring prospective audiologic surveillance.
DFNB30 does not appear to shorten life expectancy or directly increase mortality. Its burden is auditory disability rather than systemic organ failure. Untreated progression can substantially impair speech understanding, communication, education, employment, safety, and social participation. Congenital profound loss poses the greatest risk to spoken-language development if access to communication and rehabilitation is delayed.
Hearing recovery is not expected spontaneously. Functional prognosis depends on age at onset, rate and severity of progression, timing and consistency of amplification, communication access, and candidacy for cochlear implantation. No validated molecular prognostic biomarker exists, although genotype/domain and residual MYO3A function may partly explain congenital-profound versus later-progressive phenotypes. The 2025 study concluded that genetic identification can help anticipate progression and enable timely intervention. (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2)
There is no approved MYO3A-restoring drug, RNA therapy, cell therapy, or gene therapy. Pharmacogenomic guidance specific to DFNB30 is unavailable.
Current management is individualized:
A ClinicalTrials.gov search found gene-therapy studies for other genetic hearing losses—including OTOF and GJB2—and general human auditory-cell transduction research, but no MYO3A/DFNB30-specific interventional trial. Those studies should not be entered as DFNB30 treatments.
Gene replacement is conceptually attractive because recessive disease is usually loss-of-function, but challenges include MYO3A coding size, delivery to the correct mature hair cells, dosage, developmental timing, and whether abnormal/degenerating stereocilia remain rescuable. Thus, gene therapy is preclinical speculation, not present clinical care.
The inherited genotype cannot be prevented by lifestyle modification.
No well-established naturally occurring companion-animal or livestock disorder directly equivalent to human MYO3A-DFNB30 was identified. There is no zoonotic potential or cross-species transmission because this is a germline genetic disease.
The human MYO3A protein is evolutionarily related to Drosophila NINAC, a class III myosin required in photoreceptors. The original paper described this as an evolutionary connection between visual and auditory sensory systems, but NINAC retinal degeneration is not a literal fly model of human cochlear disease. (souissi2022molecularinsightsinto pages 12-13)
Suggested taxonomy annotations include Homo sapiens (NCBI Taxon 9606), Mus musculus (10090), and Drosophila melanogaster (7227). Ortholog identifiers should be taken from the current NCBI Gene/Alliance release at ingestion.
The most disease-relevant model is the mouse carrying a human DFNB30-associated MYO3A loss-of-function allele. These mice developed significant hearing loss by approximately 2.5 months, first at high frequencies and subsequently across all tested frequencies, recapitulating the progressive human course. DOI 10.1007/s00335-010-9310-6, PMID 21165622. (doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2, dantas2018characterizationofa pages 1-2)
Myo3a-deficient mice show abnormal stereocilia dimensions and spacing. Combined Myo3a/Myo3b deficiency produces a more severe or profound phenotype than MYO3A loss alone, demonstrating partial redundancy between class III myosins. These models are useful for longitudinal auditory brainstem response testing, otoacoustic emissions, ultrastructural analysis, actin/cargo trafficking, and preclinical rescue studies. (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2, maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 2-4)
Limitations include interspecies differences in cochlear maturation and frequency range, redundancy between Myo3a and Myo3b, and the inability of a single engineered allele to represent the full human genotype–phenotype spectrum. COS-7 filopodia and epithelial microvilli are useful reductionist systems for motor and actin-protrusion assays but are not auditory hair cells. Patient-derived iPSC hair-cell or organoid models would be valuable, but no validated DFNB30 clinical platform was identified.
A 2024 authoritative review of hearing-loss-associated myosins emphasized that MYO3A, MYO6, MYO7A, and MYO15A are essential to developing and maintaining functional hair-cell stereocilia, while also noting that variant-level clinical correlations and in-stereocilium trafficking remain incompletely understood. Miyoshi et al., Frontiers in Physiology, published March 2024, DOI 10.3389/fphys.2024.1374901. This is expert synthesis rather than new DFNB30 patient evidence. (elbagoury2025wholeexomesequencing pages 10-11)
The strongest new disease-specific clinical evidence is the study published 16 January 2025, just outside the requested 2023–2024 priority window. It supplied the largest unrelated MYO3A series, eight candidate causal variants—six novel—and the 0.06% estimate among Japanese hearing-loss referrals. Its abstract states: “Our findings confirmed that MYO3A variants cause progressive hearing loss, with its onset varying from birth to the second decade, eventually leading to severe-to-profound hearing loss.” Maekawa et al., Genes 2025;16:92, DOI 10.3390/genes16010092. (maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2)
Overall certainty is high for MYO3A causality, autosomal-recessive inheritance, sensorineural pathology, and progression; moderate for domain-specific genotype–phenotype correlations and individual cargo contributions; and low or absent for population prevalence, penetrance estimates, modifiers, environmental interaction, epigenetics, patient omics, disease-specific quality-of-life statistics, and MYO3A-targeted treatment outcomes.
References
(OpenTargets Search: autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30-MYO3A): Open Targets Query (autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30-MYO3A, 5 results). Buniello, A. et al. (2025). Open Targets Platform: facilitating therapeutic hypotheses building in drug discovery. Nucleic Acids Research.
(doll2020anovelmissense pages 1-2): Julia Doll, Michaela A. H. Hofrichter, Paulina Bahena, Alfred Heihoff, Dennis Segebarth, Tobias Müller, Marcus Dittrich, Thomas Haaf, and Barbara Vona. A novel missense variant in myo3a is associated with autosomal dominant high‐frequency hearing loss in a german family. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine, Jun 2020. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mgg3.1343, doi:10.1002/mgg3.1343. This article has 17 citations and is from a peer-reviewed journal.
(dantas2018characterizationofa pages 1-2): Vitor G. L. Dantas, Manmeet H. Raval, Angela Ballesteros, Runjia Cui, Laura K. Gunther, Guilherme L. Yamamoto, Leandro Ucela Alves, André Silva Bueno, Karina Lezirovitz, Sulene Pirana, Beatriz C. A. Mendes, Christopher M. Yengo, Bechara Kachar, and Regina C. Mingroni-Netto. Characterization of a novel myo3a missense mutation associated with a dominant form of late onset hearing loss. Scientific Reports, Jun 2018. URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26818-2, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26818-2. This article has 32 citations and is from a peer-reviewed journal.
(maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 1-2): Karuna Maekawa, Shin-ya Nishio, Hiromitsu Miyazaki, Yoko Ohta, Naoki Oishi, Misato Kasai, Ai Yamamoto, Mayuri Okami, Koichiro Wasano, Akihiro Sakai, and Shin-ichi Usami. The prevalence and clinical characteristics of myo3a-associated hearing loss in 15,684 hearing loss patients. Jan 2025. URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes16010092, doi:10.3390/genes16010092. This article has 1 citations.
(maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 6-8): Karuna Maekawa, Shin-ya Nishio, Hiromitsu Miyazaki, Yoko Ohta, Naoki Oishi, Misato Kasai, Ai Yamamoto, Mayuri Okami, Koichiro Wasano, Akihiro Sakai, and Shin-ichi Usami. The prevalence and clinical characteristics of myo3a-associated hearing loss in 15,684 hearing loss patients. Jan 2025. URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes16010092, doi:10.3390/genes16010092. This article has 1 citations.
(maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 2-4): Karuna Maekawa, Shin-ya Nishio, Hiromitsu Miyazaki, Yoko Ohta, Naoki Oishi, Misato Kasai, Ai Yamamoto, Mayuri Okami, Koichiro Wasano, Akihiro Sakai, and Shin-ichi Usami. The prevalence and clinical characteristics of myo3a-associated hearing loss in 15,684 hearing loss patients. Jan 2025. URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes16010092, doi:10.3390/genes16010092. This article has 1 citations.
(maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 12-13): Karuna Maekawa, Shin-ya Nishio, Hiromitsu Miyazaki, Yoko Ohta, Naoki Oishi, Misato Kasai, Ai Yamamoto, Mayuri Okami, Koichiro Wasano, Akihiro Sakai, and Shin-ichi Usami. The prevalence and clinical characteristics of myo3a-associated hearing loss in 15,684 hearing loss patients. Jan 2025. URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes16010092, doi:10.3390/genes16010092. This article has 1 citations.
(souissi2022molecularinsightsinto pages 12-13): Amal Souissi, Dorra Abdelmalek Driss, Imen Chakchouk, Mariem Ben Said, Ikhlas Ben Ayed, Mohamed Ali Mosrati, Ines Elloumi, Abdelaziz Tlili, Sami Aifa, and Saber Masmoudi. Molecular insights into myo3a kinase domain variants explain variability in both severity and progression of dfnb30 hearing impairment. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 40:10940-10951, Aug 2022. URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/07391102.2021.1953600, doi:10.1080/07391102.2021.1953600. This article has 4 citations and is from a peer-reviewed journal.
(maekawa2025theprevalenceand pages 4-6): Karuna Maekawa, Shin-ya Nishio, Hiromitsu Miyazaki, Yoko Ohta, Naoki Oishi, Misato Kasai, Ai Yamamoto, Mayuri Okami, Koichiro Wasano, Akihiro Sakai, and Shin-ichi Usami. The prevalence and clinical characteristics of myo3a-associated hearing loss in 15,684 hearing loss patients. Jan 2025. URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes16010092, doi:10.3390/genes16010092. This article has 1 citations.
(dantas2018characterizationofa pages 10-11): Vitor G. L. Dantas, Manmeet H. Raval, Angela Ballesteros, Runjia Cui, Laura K. Gunther, Guilherme L. Yamamoto, Leandro Ucela Alves, André Silva Bueno, Karina Lezirovitz, Sulene Pirana, Beatriz C. A. Mendes, Christopher M. Yengo, Bechara Kachar, and Regina C. Mingroni-Netto. Characterization of a novel myo3a missense mutation associated with a dominant form of late onset hearing loss. Scientific Reports, Jun 2018. URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26818-2, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26818-2. This article has 32 citations and is from a peer-reviewed journal.
(dantas2018characterizationofa pages 2-3): Vitor G. L. Dantas, Manmeet H. Raval, Angela Ballesteros, Runjia Cui, Laura K. Gunther, Guilherme L. Yamamoto, Leandro Ucela Alves, André Silva Bueno, Karina Lezirovitz, Sulene Pirana, Beatriz C. A. Mendes, Christopher M. Yengo, Bechara Kachar, and Regina C. Mingroni-Netto. Characterization of a novel myo3a missense mutation associated with a dominant form of late onset hearing loss. Scientific Reports, Jun 2018. URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26818-2, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26818-2. This article has 32 citations and is from a peer-reviewed journal.
(elbagoury2025wholeexomesequencing pages 10-11): Nagham M. Elbagoury, Engy A. Ashaat, Mona K. Mekkawy, Ragaey Y. Mohamed, Anas M. Askoura, Peter M. Milad, and Mona L. Essawi. Whole exome sequencing diagnosing syndromic and non-syndromic hearing loss with expansion of the phenotypic spectrum related to tmc1 variants. European Journal of Pediatrics, Mar 2025. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-025-06052-5, doi:10.1007/s00431-025-06052-5. This article has 2 citations and is from a peer-reviewed journal.
Checked with linkml-reference-validator 0.2.1.
| Outcome | Count |
|---|---|
| References checked | 8 |
| Resolved | 8 |
| Unresolved (possible confabulation) | 0 |
| Unverifiable | 0 |
| References weighed for topical relevance | 8 |
| On topic | 5 |
| Off topic | 0 |
All extracted references resolved successfully.
Checked with linkml-term-validator 0.4.5, through the ols: adapter.
| Outcome | Count |
|---|---|
| Terms checked | 1 |
| Resolved | 1 |
| Unresolved (possible confabulation) | 0 |
| Obsolete | 0 |
| Unverifiable | 0 |
| Terms whose name was checked | 1 |
| Terms named correctly | 0 |
| Terms named as a different term | 1 |
These identifiers resolve, so nothing about them looks wrong, and the ontology calls them something unrelated to what the report calls them. That usually means the identifier is not the one the sentence needs:
MONDO:0011774 (2 mentions) - the report calls it "MONDO"; MONDO calls it autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss 30