| 1 | PLoS ONE 2013 -1 8: e67776 |
|---|---|
| PMID | 23922650 |
| Title | Association study of 167 candidate genes for schizophrenia selected by a multi-domain evidence-based prioritization algorithm and neurodevelopmental hypothesis. |
| Abstract | Integrating evidence from multiple domains is useful in prioritizing disease candidate genes for subsequent testing. We ranked all known human genes (n=3819) under linkage peaks in the Irish Study of High-Density schizophrenia Families using three different evidence domains: 1) a meta-analysis of microarray gene expression results using the Stanley Brain collection, 2) a schizophrenia protein-protein interaction network, and 3) a systematic literature search. Each gene was assigned a domain-specific p-value and ranked after evaluating the evidence within each domain. For comparison to this ranking process, a large-scale candidate gene hypothesis was also tested by including genes with Gene Ontology terms related to neurodevelopment. Subsequently, genotypes of 3725 SNPs in 167 genes from a custom Illumina iSelect array were used to evaluate the top ranked vs. hypothesis selected genes. Seventy-three genes were both highly ranked and involved in neurodevelopment (category 1) while 42 and 52 genes were exclusive to neurodevelopment (category 2) or highly ranked (category 3), respectively. The most significant associations were observed in genes PRKG1, PRKCE, and CNTN4 but no individual SNPs were significant after correction for multiple testing. Comparison of the approaches showed an excess of significant tests using the hypothesis-driven neurodevelopment category. Random selection of similar sized genes from two independent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of schizophrenia showed the excess was unlikely by chance. In a further meta-analysis of three GWAS datasets, four candidate SNPs reached nominal significance. Although gene ranking using integrated sources of prior information did not enrich for significant results in the current experiment, gene selection using an a priori hypothesis (neurodevelopment) was superior to random selection. As such, further development of gene ranking strategies using more carefully selected sources of information is warranted. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |
| 2 | Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2014 May 55: 3258-64 |
| PMID | 24764060 |
| Title | Gene-rich large deletions are overrepresented in POAG patients of Indian and Caucasian origins. |
| Abstract | Large copy number variations (CNV) can contribute to increased burden for neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we analyzed the genome-wide burden of large CNVs > 100 kb in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), a neurodegenerative disease of the eye that is the largest cause of irreversible blindness. Genome-wide analysis of CNVs > 100 kb were analyzed in a total of 1720 individuals, including an Indian cohort (347 POAG cases and 345 controls) and a Caucasian cohort (624 cases and 404 controls). All the CNV data were obtained from experiments performed on Illumina 660W-Quad (infinium) arrays. We observed that for both the populations CNVs > 1 Mb was significantly enriched for gene-rich regions unique to the POAG cases (P < 10(-11)). In the Indian cohort CNVs > 1 Mb (39 calls) in patients influenced 125 genes while in controls 31 such CNVs influenced only 5 genes with no overlap. In both cohorts we observed 1.9-fold gene enrichment in patients for deletions compared to duplications, while such a bias was not observed in controls (0.3-fold). Overall duplications > 1 Mb were more than deletions (Del/Dup = 0.82) confirming that the enrichment of gene-rich deletions in patients was associated with the disease. Of the 39 CNVs > 1 Mb from Indian patients, 28 (72%) also were implicated in other neurodegenerative disorders, like autism, schizophrenia, sensorineural hearing loss, and so forth. We found one large duplication encompassing CNTN4 gene in Indian and Caucasian POAG patients that was absent in the controls. To our knowledge, our study is the first report on large CNV bias for gene-rich regions in glaucomatous neurodegeneration, implicating its impact across populations of contrasting ethnicities. We identified CNTN4 as a novel candidate gene for POAG. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |
| 3 | Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 2015 Dec 168: 649-59 |
| PMID | 26198764 |
| Title | Genome-wide association study of schizophrenia in Ashkenazi Jews. |
| Abstract | schizophrenia is a common, clinically heterogeneous disorder associated with lifelong morbidity and early mortality. Several genetic variants associated with schizophrenia have been identified, but the majority of the heritability remains unknown. In this study, we report on a case-control sample of Ashkenazi Jews (AJ), a founder population that may provide additional insights into genetic etiology of schizophrenia. We performed a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) of 592 cases and 505 controls of AJ ancestry ascertained in the US. Subsequently, we performed a meta-analysis with an Israeli AJ sample of 913 cases and 1640 controls, followed by a meta-analysis and polygenic risk scoring using summary results from Psychiatric GWAS Consortium 2 schizophrenia study. The U.S. AJ sample showed strong evidence of polygenic inheritance (pseudo-R(2) ?9.7%) and a SNP-heritability estimate of 0.39 (P?=?0.00046). We found no genome-wide significant associations in the U.S. sample or in the combined US/Israeli AJ meta-analysis of 1505 cases and 2145 controls. The strongest AJ specific associations (P-values in 10(-6) -10(-7) range) were in the 22q 11.2 deletion region and included the genes TBX1, GLN1, and COMT. Supportive evidence (meta P?CNTN4, IMMP2L, and GRIN2A. The meta-analysis of the U.S. sample with the PGC2 results provided initial genome-wide significant evidence for six new loci. Among the novel potential susceptibility genes is PEPD, a gene involved in proline metabolism, which is associated with a Mendelian disorder characterized by developmental delay and cognitive deficits. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |
| 4 | J Neurodev Disord 2015 -1 7: 26 |
| PMID | 26257835 |
| Title | CNTN6 copy number variations in 14 patients: a possible candidate gene for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. |
| Abstract | Neurodevelopmental disorders are impairments of brain function that affect emotion, learning, and memory. Copy number variations of contactin genes (CNTNs), including CNTN3, CNTN4, CNTN5, and CNTN6, have been suggested to be associated with these disorders. However, phenotypes have been reported in only a handful of patients with copy number variations involving CNTNs. From January 2009 to January 2013, 3724 patients ascertained through the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center were referred to our laboratory for clinical array comparative genomic hybridization testing. We screened this cohort of patients to identify individuals with the 3p26.3 copy number variations involving the CNTN6 gene, and then retrospectively reviewed the clinical information and family history of these patients to determine the association between the 3p26.3 copy number variations and neurodevelopmental disorders. Fourteen of the 3724 patients had 3p26.3 copy number variations involving the CNTN6 gene. Thirteen of the 14 patients with these CNTN6 copy number variations presented with various neurodevelopmental disorders including developmental delay, autistic spectrum disorders, seizures and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Family history was available for 13 of the 14 patients. Twelve of the thirteen families have multiple members with neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, seizures, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, learning disability, and bipolar disorder. Our findings suggest that deletion or duplication of the CNTN6 gene is associated with a wide spectrum of neurodevelopmental behavioral disorders. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |
| 5 | Mol. Neurobiol. 2016 Apr -1: -1 |
| PMID | 27052956 |
| Title | Polymorphism of rs3737597 in DISC1 Gene on Chromosome 1q42.2 in sALS Patients: a Chinese Han Population Case-Control Study. |
| Abstract | Although lots of genes have been revealed to relate to sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (sALS), its genetic mechanisms still need to be further explored. We aimed to search the novel genetic factors of sALS and assess their contribution. We constructed an integrative dataset based on the 3227 subsignificant genes (P value?schizophrenia-1 (DISC1), CNTN4, NRXN3, and ERBB4) presented a considerable association with sALS in both studies. To further verify the association between the NSD function target genes and sALS, we preformed a two-stage case-control study based on 500 sALS patients and 500 controls of Chinese Han populations from mainland. A polymorphism of rs3737597 in DISC1 gene involved in the nervous system developmental pathway was closely associated with sALS. The nervous system developmental pathway is a potential pathogenesis of sALS, among them, the polymorphism of rs3737597 in DISC1 might play some roles. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |
| 6 | J Neurodev Disord 2016 -1 8: 6 |
| PMID | 26958094 |
| Title | Limited impact of Cntn4 mutation on autism-related traits in developing and adult C57BL/6J mice. |
| Abstract | Mouse models offer an essential tool to unravel the impact of genetic mutations on autism-related phenotypes. The behavioral impact of some important candidate gene models for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has not yet been studied, and existing characterizations mostly describe behavioral phenotypes at adult ages, disregarding the developmental nature of the disorder. In this context, the behavioral influence of CNTN4, one of the strongest suggested ASD candidate genes, is unknown. Here, we used our recently established developmental test battery to characterize the consequences of disruption of contactin 4 (CNTN4) on neurological, sensory, cognitive, and behavioral phenotypes across different developmental stages. C57BL/6J mice with heterozygous and homozygous disruption of CNTN4 were studied through an extensive, partially longitudinal, test battery at various developmental stages, including various paradigms testing social and restricted repetitive behaviors. Developmental neurological and cognitive screenings revealed no significant differences between genotypes, and ASD-related behavioral domains were also unchanged in CNTN4-deficient versus wild-type mice. The impact of CNTN4-deficiency was found to be limited to increased startle responsiveness following auditory stimuli of different high amplitudes in heterozygous and homozygous CNTN4-deficient mice and enhanced acquisition in a spatial learning task in homozygous mice. Disruption of CNTN4 in the C57BL/6J background does not affect specific autism-related phenotypes in developing or adult mice but causes subtle non-disorder specific changes in sensory behavioral responses and cognitive performance. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |