Albinism is an autosomal recessive
genetic disorder due to low secretion of
melanin. The
oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) and
ocular albinism (OA) genes are responsible for
melanin production and also act as a potential targets for
miRNAs. The role of
miRNA is to inhibit the
protein synthesis partially or completely by binding with the
3'UTR of the
mRNA thus regulating gene expression. In this analysis, we predicted the genetic variation that occurred in
3'UTR of the transcript which can be a reason for low
melanin production thus causing
albinism. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in
3'UTR cause more new binding sites for
miRNA which binds with
mRNA which leads to inhibit the translation process either partially or completely. The SNPs in the
mRNA of OCA and OA genes can create new binding sites for
miRNA which may control the gene expression and lead to
hypopigmentation. We have developed a computational procedure to determine the SNPs in the
3'UTR region of
mRNA of OCA (TYR,
OCA2, TYRP1 and SLC45A2) and OA (GPR143) genes which will be a potential cause for
albinism. We identified 37 SNPs in five genes that are predicted to create 87 new binding sites on
mRNA, which may lead to abrogation of the translation process. Expression analysis confirms that these genes are highly expressed in skin and eye regions. It is well supported by enrichment analysis that these genes are mainly involved in eye pigmentation and
melanin biosynthesis process. The network analysis also shows how the genes are interacting and expressing in a complex network. This insight provides clue to wet-lab researches to understand the expression pattern of OCA and OA genes and binding phenomenon of
mRNA and
miRNA upon mutation, which is responsible for inhibition of translation process at genomic levels.