| 1 | Psychiatry Res 2004 Apr 126: 93-8 |
|---|---|
| PMID | 15123388 |
| Title | Cerebellum development and schizophrenia: an association study of the human homeogene Engrailed 2. |
| Abstract | Epidemiological data and family studies in schizophrenia show that genetic factors contribute to the vulnerability to this disorder. The homeogene Engrailed 2 (EN2) is specifically involved in patterning the region that gives rise to the cerebellum and controls the plasticity of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. We carried out an association study for a CA repeat polymorphism located in the 3' region of the homeogene EN2. The subjects consisted of 165 patients with schizophrenia and 97 controls matched for age and ethnicity from a French Caucasian population. We found no significant association of schizophrenia with this bi-nucleotide repeat polymorphism of the EN2 gene. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |
| 2 | Psychiatr. Genet. 2008 Dec 18: 295-301 |
| PMID | 19018235 |
| Title | Polymorphisms of coding trinucleotide repeats of homeogenes in neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders. |
| Abstract | Autism (MIM#209850) and schizophrenia (MIM#181500) are both neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders characterized by a highly genetic component. Homeogenes and forkhead genes encode transcription factors, which have been involved in brain development and cell differentiation. Thus, they are relevant candidate genes for psychiatric disorders. Genetic studies have reported an association between autism and DLX2, HOXA1, EN2, ARX, and FOXP2 genes whereas only three studies of EN2, OTX2, and FOXP2 were performed on schizophrenia. Interestingly, most of these candidate genes contain trinucleotide repeats coding for polyamino acid stretch in which instability can be the cause of neurodevelopmental disorders. Our goal was to identify variations of coding trinucleotide repeats in schizophrenia, autism, and idiopathic mental retardation. We screened the coding trinucleotide repeats of OTX1, EN1, DLX2, HOXA1, and FOXP2 genes in populations suffering from schizophrenia (247 patients), autism (98 patients), and idiopathic mental retardation (56 patients), and compared them with control populations (112 super controls and 202 healthy controls). Novel deletions and insertions of coding trinucleotide repeats were found in the DLX2, HOXA1, and FOXP2 genes. Most of these variations were detected in controls and no difference in their distribution was observed between patient and control groups. Two different polymorphisms in FOXP2 were, however, found only in autistic patients and the functional consequences of these variations of repeats have to be characterized and correlated to particular clinical features. This study did not identify specific disease risk variants of trinucleotide repeats in OTX1, EN1, DLX2, HOXA1, and FOXP2 candidate genes in neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |
| 3 | Genes Brain Behav. 2014 Mar 13: 286-298 |
| PMID | 24730055 |
| Title | Chronic desipramine treatment rescues depression-related, social and cognitive deficits in Engrailed-2 knockout mice. |
| Abstract | Engrailed-2 (EN2) is a homeobox transcription factor that regulates neurodevelopmental processes including neuronal connectivity and elaboration of monoaminergic neurons in the ventral hindbrain. We previously reported abnormalities in brain noradrenergic concentrations in EN2 null mutant mice that were accompanied by increased immobility in the forced swim test, relevant to depression. An EN2 genetic polymorphism has been associated with autism spectrum disorders, and mice with a deletion in EN2 display social abnormalities and cognitive deficits that may be relevant to multiple neuropsychiatric conditions. This study evaluated the ability of chronic treatment with desipramine (DMI), a selective norepinephrine (NE) reuptake inhibitor and classical antidepressant, to reverse behavioral abnormalities in EN2?/? mice. Desipramine treatment significantly reduced immobility in the tail suspension and forced swim tests, restored sociability in the three-chambered social approach task and reversed impairments in contextual fear conditioning in EN2?/? mice. Our findings indicate that modulation of brain noradrenergic systems rescues the depression-related phenotype in EN2?/? mice and suggest new roles for NE in the pathophysiology of the social and cognitive deficits seen in neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism or schizophrenia. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |