The PDE6H gene provides instructions for making one part (called the inhibitory gamma subunit) of an enzyme called cone-specific phosphodiesterase. This enzyme is found exclusively in light-detecting (photoreceptor) cells called cones, which are located in a specialized tissue at the back of the eye known as the retina. Cones provide vision in bright light (daylight vision), including color vision. Other photoreceptor cells, called rods, provide vision in low light (night vision).

When light enters the eye, it stimulates specialized pigments in photoreceptor cells. This stimulation triggers a series of chemical reactions that produce an electrical signal, which is interpreted by the brain as vision. This process is called phototransduction. Cone-specific phosphodiesterase carries out one of the reactions in this process. Specifically, the enzyme converts a molecule called cGMP to another molecule, 5'-GMP, in cones. This conversion causes certain channels on the cell membrane to close. The closing of these channels triggers the transmission of visual signals to the brain.

Tests Listed in the Genetic Testing Registry

• Tests of PDE6H

Scientific Articles on PubMed

• PubMed

Catalog of Genes and Diseases from OMIM

• PHOSPHODIESTERASE 6H; PDE6H

Gene and Variant Databases

• NCBI Gene
• ClinVar

• Kohl S, Coppieters F, Meire F, Schaich S, Roosing S, Brennenstuhl C, Bolz S, van Genderen MM, Riemslag FC; European Retinal Disease Consortium; Lukowski R, den Hollander AI, Cremers FP, De Baere E, Hoyng CB, Wissinger B. A nonsense mutation in PDE6H causes autosomal-recessive incomplete achromatopsia. Am J Hum Genet. 2012 Sep 7;91(3):527-32. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2012.07.006. Epub 2012 Aug 16. Citation on PubMed or Free article on PubMed Central
• Kohl S, Jagle H, Wissinger B, Zobor D. Achromatopsia. 2004 Jun 24 [updated 2018 Sep 20]. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews(R) [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2025. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1418/ Citation on PubMed
• Shimizu-Matsumoto A, Itoh K, Inazawa J, Nishida K, Matsumoto Y, Kinoshita S, Matsubara K, Okubo K. Isolation and chromosomal localization of the human cone cGMP phosphodiesterase gamma cDNA (PDE6H). Genomics. 1996 Feb 15;32(1):121-4. doi: 10.1006/geno.1996.0085. Citation on PubMed