Mutations in DNAH5 cause primary ciliary dyskinesia and randomization of left–right asymmetry

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD, MIM 242650) is characterized by recurrent infections of the respiratory tract due to reduced mucociliary clearance and by sperm immobility. Half of the affected offspring have situs inversus (reversed organs), which results from randomization of left-right (LR) asymmetry1. We previously localized to chromosome 5p a PCD locus containing DNAH5, which encodes a protein highly similar to the Chlamydomonas γ-dynein heavy chain2. Here we characterize the full-length 14-kb transcript of DNAH5. Sequence analysis in individuals with PCD with randomization of LR asymmetry identified mutations resulting in non-functional DNAH5 proteins.