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Recessive mutations in GJA12/GJC2, the gene that encodes the gap junction protein connexin47 (Cx47), cause Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease (PMLD), an early onset dysmyelinating disorder of the CNS, characterized by nystagmus, psychomotor delay, progressive spasticity and cerebellar signs. Here we describe three patients from one family with a novel recessively inherited mutation, 99C>G (predicted to cause an Ile>Met amino acid substitution; I33M) that causes a milder phenotype. All three had a late-onset, slowly progressive, complicated spastic paraplegia, with normal or near-normal psychomotor development, preserved walking capability through adulthood, and no nystagmus. MRI and MR spectroscopy imaging were consistent with a hypomyelinating leukoencephalopathy. The mutant protein forms gap junction plaques at cell borders similar to wild-type (WT) Cx47 in transfected cells, but fails …