CEP290 gene

The CEP290 gene provides instructions for making a protein that is present in many types of cells, including the eye's light-sensing cells (photoreceptors). Photoreceptors are found in the specialized tissue at the back of the eye that detects light and color (retina). 

Studies suggest that the CEP290 protein plays an important role in cell structures called centrosomes and cilia. Centrosomes are involved in cell division and the assembly of microtubules. Microtubules are fibers that help cells maintain their shape, assist in the process of cell division, and are essential for transporting materials within cells. 

Cilia are microscopic, finger-like projections that are found in many types of cells, including photoreceptors. Primary cilia are necessary for the perception of sensory input, such as vision, hearing, and smell. Photoreceptors contain primary cilia and are important for maintaining the normal structure and function of the retina.

Photoreceptors have two main parts: an inner segment and an outer segment. These segments are connected by a single primary cilia (cilium) called the connecting cilium. Microtubules within the connecting cilium provide structural support and help transport materials between the inner and outer segments. Within the connecting cilium, the CEP290 proteins help anchor the microtubules and regulate the transport of proteins between the two segments.

Tests Listed in the Genetic Testing Registry

• Tests of CEP290

Scientific Articles on PubMed

• PubMed

Catalog of Genes and Diseases from OMIM

• CENTROSOMAL PROTEIN, 290-KD; CEP290

Gene and Variant Databases

• NCBI Gene
• ClinVar

• Baala L, Audollent S, Martinovic J, Ozilou C, Babron MC, Sivanandamoorthy S, Saunier S, Salomon R, Gonzales M, Rattenberry E, Esculpavit C, Toutain A, Moraine C, Parent P, Marcorelles P, Dauge MC, Roume J, Le Merrer M, Meiner V, Meir K, Menez F, Beaufrere AM, Francannet C, Tantau J, Sinico M, Dumez Y, MacDonald F, Munnich A, Lyonnet S, Gubler MC, Genin E, Johnson CA, Vekemans M, Encha-Razavi F, Attie-Bitach T. Pleiotropic effects of CEP290 (NPHP6) mutations extend to Meckel syndrome. Am J Hum Genet. 2007 Jul;81(1):170-9. doi: 10.1086/519494. Epub 2007 Jun 4. Citation on PubMed or Free article on PubMed Central
• Brancati F, Barrano G, Silhavy JL, Marsh SE, Travaglini L, Bielas SL, Amorini M, Zablocka D, Kayserili H, Al-Gazali L, Bertini E, Boltshauser E, D'Hooghe M, Fazzi E, Fenerci EY, Hennekam RC, Kiss A, Lees MM, Marco E, Phadke SR, Rigoli L, Romano S, Salpietro CD, Sherr EH, Signorini S, Stromme P, Stuart B, Sztriha L, Viskochil DH, Yuksel A, Dallapiccola B; International JSRD Study Group; Valente EM, Gleeson JG. CEP290 mutations are frequently identified in the oculo-renal form of Joubert syndrome-related disorders. Am J Hum Genet. 2007 Jul;81(1):104-13. doi: 10.1086/519026. Epub 2007 May 18. Citation on PubMed or Free article on PubMed Central
• den Hollander AI, Koenekoop RK, Yzer S, Lopez I, Arends ML, Voesenek KE, Zonneveld MN, Strom TM, Meitinger T, Brunner HG, Hoyng CB, van den Born LI, Rohrschneider K, Cremers FP. Mutations in the CEP290 (NPHP6) gene are a frequent cause of Leber congenital amaurosis. Am J Hum Genet. 2006 Sep;79(3):556-61. doi: 10.1086/507318. Epub 2006 Jul 11. Citation on PubMed or Free article on PubMed Central
• Frank V, den Hollander AI, Bruchle NO, Zonneveld MN, Nurnberg G, Becker C, Du Bois G, Kendziorra H, Roosing S, Senderek J, Nurnberg P, Cremers FP, Zerres K, Bergmann C. Mutations of the CEP290 gene encoding a centrosomal protein cause Meckel-Gruber syndrome. Hum Mutat. 2008 Jan;29(1):45-52. doi: 10.1002/humu.20614. Citation on PubMed
• Helou J, Otto EA, Attanasio M, Allen SJ, Parisi MA, Glass I, Utsch B, Hashmi S, Fazzi E, Omran H, O'Toole JF, Sayer JA, Hildebrandt F. Mutation analysis of NPHP6/CEP290 in patients with Joubert syndrome and Senior-Loken syndrome. J Med Genet. 2007 Oct;44(10):657-63. doi: 10.1136/jmg.2007.052027. Epub 2007 Jul 6. Citation on PubMed or Free article on PubMed Central
• Huang CH, Yang CM, Yang CH, Hou YC, Chen TC. Leber's Congenital Amaurosis: Current Concepts of Genotype-Phenotype Correlations. Genes (Basel). 2021 Aug 19;12(8):1261. doi: 10.3390/genes12081261. Citation on PubMed
• Kumaran N, Pennesi ME, Yang P, Trzupek KM, Michaelides M. Nonsyndromic Leber Congenital Amaurosis / Early-Onset Severe Retinal Dystrophy Overview. 2018 Oct 4 [updated 2025 Dec 4]. In: Adam MP, Bick S, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews(R) [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2026. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK531510/ Citation on PubMed
• Leitch CC, Zaghloul NA, Davis EE, Stoetzel C, Diaz-Font A, Rix S, Alfadhel M, Lewis RA, Eyaid W, Banin E, Dollfus H, Beales PL, Badano JL, Katsanis N. Hypomorphic mutations in syndromic encephalocele genes are associated with Bardet-Biedl syndrome. Nat Genet. 2008 Apr;40(4):443-8. doi: 10.1038/ng.97. Epub 2008 Mar 9. Citation on PubMed
• Leroy BP, Birch DG, Duncan JL, Lam BL, Koenekoop RK, Porto FBO, Russell SR, Girach A. LEBER CONGENITAL AMAUROSIS DUE TO CEP290 MUTATIONS-SEVERE VISION IMPAIRMENT WITH A HIGH UNMET MEDICAL NEED: A Review. Retina. 2021 May 1;41(5):898-907. doi: 10.1097/IAE.0000000000003133. Citation on PubMed
• May-Simera H, Nagel-Wolfrum K, Wolfrum U. Cilia - The sensory antennae in the eye. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2017 Sep;60:144-180. doi: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2017.05.001. Epub 2017 May 11. Citation on PubMed
• Moradi P, Davies WL, Mackay DS, Cheetham ME, Moore AT. Focus on molecules: centrosomal protein 290 (CEP290). Exp Eye Res. 2011 May;92(5):316-7. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2010.05.009. Epub 2010 May 20. No abstract available. Citation on PubMed
• Sayer JA, Otto EA, O'Toole JF, Nurnberg G, Kennedy MA, Becker C, Hennies HC, Helou J, Attanasio M, Fausett BV, Utsch B, Khanna H, Liu Y, Drummond I, Kawakami I, Kusakabe T, Tsuda M, Ma L, Lee H, Larson RG, Allen SJ, Wilkinson CJ, Nigg EA, Shou C, Lillo C, Williams DS, Hoppe B, Kemper MJ, Neuhaus T, Parisi MA, Glass IA, Petry M, Kispert A, Gloy J, Ganner A, Walz G, Zhu X, Goldman D, Nurnberg P, Swaroop A, Leroux MR, Hildebrandt F. The centrosomal protein nephrocystin-6 is mutated in Joubert syndrome and activates transcription factor ATF4. Nat Genet. 2006 Jun;38(6):674-81. doi: 10.1038/ng1786. Epub 2006 May 7. Citation on PubMed
• Travaglini L, Brancati F, Attie-Bitach T, Audollent S, Bertini E, Kaplan J, Perrault I, Iannicelli M, Mancuso B, Rigoli L, Rozet JM, Swistun D, Tolentino J, Dallapiccola B, Gleeson JG, Valente EM; International JSRD Study Group; Zankl A, Leventer R, Grattan-Smith P, Janecke A, D'Hooghe M, Sznajer Y, Van Coster R, Demerleir L, Dias K, Moco C, Moreira A, Kim CA, Maegawa G, Petkovic D, Abdel-Salam GM, Abdel-Aleem A, Zaki MS, Marti I, Quijano-Roy S, Sigaudy S, de Lonlay P, Romano S, Touraine R, Koenig M, Lagier-Tourenne C, Messer J, Collignon P, Wolf N, Philippi H, Kitsiou Tzeli S, Halldorsson S, Johannsdottir J, Ludvigsson P, Phadke SR, Udani V, Stuart B, Magee A, Lev D, Michelson M, Ben-Zeev B, Fischetto R, Benedicenti F, Stanzial F, Borgatti R, Accorsi P, Battaglia S, Fazzi E, Giordano L, Pinelli L, Boccone L, Bigoni S, Ferlini A, Donati MA, Caridi G, Divizia MT, Faravelli F, Ghiggeri G, Pessagno A, Briguglio M, Briuglia S, Salpietro CD, Tortorella G, Adami A, Castorina P, Lalatta F, Marra G, Riva D, Scelsa B, Spaccini L, Uziel G, Del Giudice E, Laverda AM, Ludwig K, Permunian A, Suppiej A, Signorini S, Uggetti C, Battini R, Di Giacomo M, Cilio MR, Di Sabato ML, Leuzzi V, Parisi P, Pollazzon M, Silengo M, De Vescovi R, Greco D, Romano C, Cazzagon M, Simonati A, Al-Tawari AA, Bastaki L, Megarbane A, Sabolic Avramovska V, de Jong MM, Stromme P, Koul R, Rajab A, Azam M, Barbot C, Martorell Sampol L, Rodriguez B, Pascual-Castroviejo I, Teber S, Anlar B, Comu S, Karaca E, Kayserili H, Yuksel A, Akcakus M, Al Gazali L, Sztriha L, Nicholl D, Woods CG, Bennett C, Hurst J, Sheridan E, Barnicoat A, Hennekam R, Lees M, Blair E, Bernes S, Sanchez H, Clark AE, DeMarco E, Donahue C, Sherr E, Hahn J, Sanger TD, Gallager TE, Dobyns WB, Daugherty C, Krishnamoorthy KS, Sarco D, Walsh CA, McKanna T, Milisa J, Chung WK, De Vivo DC, Raynes H, Schubert R, Seward A, Brooks DG, Goldstein A, Caldwell J, Finsecke E, Maria BL, Holden K, Cruse RP, Swoboda KJ, Viskochil D. Expanding CEP290 mutational spectrum in ciliopathies. Am J Med Genet A. 2009 Oct;149A(10):2173-80. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.33025. Citation on PubMed or Free article on PubMed Central
• Valente EM, Silhavy JL, Brancati F, Barrano G, Krishnaswami SR, Castori M, Lancaster MA, Boltshauser E, Boccone L, Al-Gazali L, Fazzi E, Signorini S, Louie CM, Bellacchio E; International Joubert Syndrome Related Disorders Study Group; Bertini E, Dallapiccola B, Gleeson JG. Mutations in CEP290, which encodes a centrosomal protein, cause pleiotropic forms of Joubert syndrome. Nat Genet. 2006 Jun;38(6):623-5. doi: 10.1038/ng1805. Epub 2006 May 7. Citation on PubMed