High Throughput Assay Identifies Glafenine as a Corrector for the Folding Defect in Corneal Dystrophy-Causing Mutants of SLC4A11.

Purpose: Protein misfolding, causing retention of nascent protein in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), is the most common molecular phenotype for disease alleles of membrane proteins. Strategies are needed to identify therapeutics able to correct such folding/trafficking defects. Mutations of SLC4A11, a plasma membrane transport protein of the human corneal endothelial cell layer, cause cases of congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy, Harboyan syndrome, and Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy.