1Hum. Mol. Genet. 2007 Mar 16: 453-62
PMID17185386
TitleFamilies with the risk allele of DISC1 reveal a link between schizophrenia and another component of the same molecular pathway, NDE1.
AbstractWe have previously reported a robust association between an allelic haplotype of 'Disrupted in schizophrenia 1' (DISC1) and schizophrenia in a nationwide collection of Finnish schizophrenia families. This specific DISC1 allele was later identified to associate with visual working memory, selectively in males. DISC1 association to schizophrenia has since been replicated in multiple independent study samples from different populations. In this study, we conditioned our sample of Finnish families for the presence of the Finnish tentative risk allele for DISC1 and re-analyzed our genome-wide scan data of 443 markers on the basis of this stratification. Two additional loci displayed an evidence of linkage (LOD > 3) and included a locus on 16p13, proximal to the gene encoding NDE1, which has been shown to biologically interact with DISC1. Although none of the observed linkages remained significant after multiple test correction through simulation, further analysis of NDE1 revealed an association between a tag-haplotype and schizophrenia (P = 0.00046) specific to females, which proved to be significant (P = 0.011) after multiple test correction. Our finding would support the concept that initial gene findings in multifactorial diseases will assist in the identification of other components of complex genetic etiology. Notably, this and other converging lines of evidence underline the importance of DISC1-related functional pathways in the etiology of schizophrenia.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
2Schizophr. Res. 2008 Feb 99: 367-9
PMID18178387
TitleNo association between the NDE1 gene and schizophrenia in the Japanese population.
Abstract-1
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
3Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2008 Dec 377: 1091-6
PMID18983980
TitleDISC1, PDE4B, and NDE1 at the centrosome and synapse.
AbstractDisrupted-In-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a risk factor for schizophrenia and other major mental illnesses. Its protein binding partners include the Nuclear Distribution Factor E Homologs (NDE1 and NDEL1), LIS1, and phosphodiesterases 4B and 4D (PDE4B and PDE4D). We demonstrate that NDE1, NDEL1 and LIS1, together with their binding partner dynein, associate with DISC1, PDE4B and PDE4D within the cell, and provide evidence that this complex is present at the centrosome. LIS1 and NDEL1 have been previously suggested to be synaptic, and we now demonstrate localisation of DISC1, NDE1, and PDE4B at synapses in cultured neurons. NDE1 is phosphorylated by cAMP-dependant Protein Kinase A (PKA), whose activity is, in turn, regulated by the cAMP hydrolysis activity of phosphodiesterases, including PDE4. We propose that DISC1 acts as an assembly scaffold for all of these proteins and that the NDE1/NDEL1/LIS1/dynein complex is modulated by cAMP levels via PKA and PDE4.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
4Hum. Mol. Genet. 2008 Aug 17: 2462-73
PMID18469341
TitleElucidating the relationship between DISC1, NDEL1 and NDE1 and the risk for schizophrenia: evidence of epistasis and competitive binding.
AbstractDISC1 influences susceptibility to psychiatric disease and related phenotypes. Intact functions of DISC1 and its binding partners, NDEL1 and NDE1, are critical to neurodevelopmental processes aberrant in schizophrenia (SZ). Despite evidence of an NDEL1-DISC1 protein interaction, there have been no investigations of the NDEL1 gene or the relationship between NDEL1 and DISC1 in SZ. We genotyped six NDEL1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 275 Caucasian SZ patients and 200 controls and tested for association and interaction between the functional SNP Ser704Cys in DISC1 and NDEL1. We also evaluated the relationship between NDE1 and DISC1 genotype and SZ. Finally, in a series of in vitro assays, we determined the binding profiles of NDEL1 and NDE1, in relation to DISC1 Ser704Cys. We observed a single haplotype block within NDEL1; the majority of variation was captured by NDEL1 rs1391768. We observed a significant interaction between rs1391768 and DISC1 Ser704Cys, with the effect of NDEL1 on SZ evident only against the background of DISC1 Ser704 homozygosity. Secondary analyses revealed no direct relationship between NDE1 genotype and SZ; however, there was an opposite pattern of risk for NDE1 genotype when conditioned on DISC1 Ser704Cys, with NDE1 rs3784859 imparting a significant effect but only in the context of a Cys-carrying background. In addition, we report opposing binding patterns of NDEL1 and NDE1 to Ser704 versus Cys704, at the same DISC1 binding domain. These data suggest that NDEL1 significantly influences risk for SZ via an interaction with DISC1. We propose a model where NDEL1 and NDE1 compete for binding with DISC1.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
5PLoS ONE 2009 -1 4: e4906
PMID19300510
TitleThe DISC1 pathway modulates expression of neurodevelopmental, synaptogenic and sensory perception genes.
AbstractGenetic and biological evidence supports a role for DISC1 across a spectrum of major mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. There is evidence for genetic interplay between variants in DISC1 and in biologically interacting loci in psychiatric illness. DISC1 also associates with normal variance in behavioral and brain imaging phenotypes.
Here, we analyze public domain datasets and demonstrate correlations between variants in the DISC1 pathway genes and levels of gene expression. Genetic variants of DISC1, NDE1, PDE4B and PDE4D regulate the expression of cytoskeletal, synaptogenic, neurodevelopmental and sensory perception proteins. Interestingly, these regulated genes include existing targets for drug development in depression and psychosis.
Our systematic analysis provides further evidence for the relevance of the DISC1 pathway to major mental illness, identifies additional potential targets for therapeutic intervention and establishes a general strategy to mine public datasets for insights into disease pathways.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
6Rev Neurosci 2009 -1 20: 321-30
PMID20397618
TitleDISCopathies: brain disorders related to DISC1 dysfunction.
AbstractDuring the last decade, disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) has emerged as a protein involved in the pathogenesis of chronic mental diseases such as schizophrenia, or recurrent affective disorders. Its multiple functions include regulating corticogenesis, synapse integrity and adult neurogenesis, indicating a key role in the hard-wiring and the maintenance of communicative abilities of the brain. From its cellular functions, the DISC1 protein is a 'molecular facilitator', which interacts with a quartenary complex including NDEL1, NDE1, LIS1, as well as the signaling molecules, GSK-3beta, PDE4B, and others. DISC1 oligomerizes, can form misassembled dysfunctional multimers as well as disease-associated insoluble protein complexes which qualify these diseases as protein conformational disorders. Disease categories ultimately serve the goal of defining pathophysiological conditions amenable to similar and efficient (pharmaco) therapies. Here, it is proposed to classify brain disorders related to dysfunctional DISC1 protein as one disease entity, that is, as DISCopathies.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
7Biol. Psychiatry 2009 Jun 65: 1055-62
PMID19251251
TitleAssociation between genes of Disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) interactors and schizophrenia supports the role of the DISC1 pathway in the etiology of major mental illnesses.
AbstractDisrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is currently one of the most interesting candidate genes for major mental illness, having been demonstrated to associate with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, autism, and Asperger's syndrome. We have previously reported a DISC1 haplotype, HEP3, and an NDE1 spanning tag haplotype to associate to schizophrenia in Finnish schizophrenia families. Because both DISC1 and NDE1 display association in our study sample, we hypothesized that other genes interacting with DISC1 might also have a role in the etiology of schizophrenia.
We selected 11 additional genes encoding components of the "DISC1 pathway" and studied these in our study sample of 476 families including 1857 genotyped individuals. We performed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and haplotype association analyses in two independent sets of families. For markers and haplotypes found to be consistently associated in both sets, the overall significance was tested with the combined set of families.
We identified three SNPs to be associated with schizophrenia in PDE4D (rs1120303, p = .021), PDE4B (rs7412571, p = .018), and NDEL1 (rs17806986, p = .0038). Greater significance was observed with allelic haplotypes of PDE4D (p = .00084), PDE4B (p = .0022 and p = .029), and NDEL1 (p = .0027) that increased or decreased schizophrenia susceptibility.
Our findings with other converging lines of evidence support the underlying importance of DISC1-related molecular pathways in the etiology of schizophrenia and other major mental illnesses.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
8Neurosci. Lett. 2009 Jan 449: 228-33
PMID19000741
TitleNDE1 and NDEL1: multimerisation, alternate splicing and DISC1 interaction.
AbstractNuclear Distribution Factor E Homolog 1 (NDE1) and NDE-Like 1 (NDEL1) are highly homologous mammalian proteins. However, whereas NDEL1 is well studied, there is remarkably little known about NDE1. We demonstrate the presence of multiple isoforms of both NDE1 and NDEL1 in the brain, showing that NDE1 binds directly to multiple isoforms of Disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), and to itself. We also show that NDE1 can complex with NDEL1. Together these results predict a high degree of complexity of DISC1-mediated regulation of neuronal activity.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
9Hum. Genet. 2010 Apr 127: 441-52
PMID20084519
TitleEvidence of statistical epistasis between DISC1, CIT and NDEL1 impacting risk for schizophrenia: biological validation with functional neuroimaging.
AbstractThe etiology of schizophrenia likely involves genetic interactions. DISC1, a promising candidate susceptibility gene, encodes a protein which interacts with many other proteins, including CIT, NDEL1, NDE1, FEZ1 and PAFAH1B1, some of which also have been associated with psychosis. We tested for epistasis between these genes in a schizophrenia case-control study using machine learning algorithms (MLAs: random forest, generalized boosted regression andMonteCarlo logic regression). Convergence of MLAs revealed a subset of seven SNPs that were subjected to 2-SNP interaction modeling using likelihood ratio tests for nested unconditional logistic regression models. Of the 7C2 = 21 interactions, four were significant at the ? = 0.05 level: DISC1 rs1411771-CIT rs10744743 OR = 3.07 (1.37, 6.98) p = 0.007; CIT rs3847960-CIT rs203332 OR = 2.90 (1.45, 5.79) p = 0.003; CIT rs3847960-CIT rs440299 OR = 2.16 (1.04, 4.46) p = 0.038; one survived Bonferroni correction (NDEL1 rs4791707-CIT rs10744743 OR = 4.44 (2.22, 8.88) p = 0.00013). Three of four interactions were validated via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an independent sample of healthy controls; risk associated alleles at both SNPs predicted prefrontal cortical inefficiency during the N-back task, a schizophrenia-linked intermediate biological phenotype: rs3847960-rs440299; rs1411771-rs10744743, rs4791707-rs10744743 (SPM5 p < 0.05, corrected), although we were unable to statistically replicate the interactions in other clinical samples. Interestingly, the CIT SNPs are proximal to exons that encode theDISC1 interaction domain. In addition, the 3' UTR DISC1 rs1411771 is predicted to be an exonic splicing enhancer and the NDEL1 SNP is ~3,000 bp from the exon encoding the region of NDEL1 that interacts with the DISC1 protein, giving a plausible biological basis for epistasis signals validated by fMRI.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
10J. Neurosci. 2011 Jun 31: 9043-54
PMID21677187
TitlePKA phosphorylation of NDE1 is DISC1/PDE4 dependent and modulates its interaction with LIS1 and NDEL1.
AbstractNuclear distribution factor E-homolog 1 (NDE1), Lissencephaly 1 (LIS1), and NDE-like 1 (NDEL1) together participate in essential neurodevelopmental processes, including neuronal precursor proliferation and differentiation, neuronal migration, and neurite outgrowth. NDE1/LIS1/NDEL1 interacts with Disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) and the cAMP-hydrolyzing enzyme phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4). DISC1, PDE4, NDE1, and NDEL1 have each been implicated as genetic risk factors for major mental illness. Here, we demonstrate that DISC1 and PDE4 modulate NDE1 phosphorylation by cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) and identify a novel PKA substrate site on NDE1 at threonine-131 (T131). Homology modeling predicts that phosphorylation at T131 modulates NDE1-LIS1 and NDE1-NDEL1 interactions, which we confirm experimentally. DISC1-PDE4 interaction thus modulates organization of the NDE1/NDEL1/LIS1 complex. T131-phosphorylated NDE1 is present at the postsynaptic density, in proximal axons, within the nucleus, and at the centrosome where it becomes substantially enriched during mitosis. Mutation of the NDE1 T131 site to mimic PKA phosphorylation inhibits neurite outgrowth. Thus PKA-dependent phosphorylation of the NDE1/LIS1/NDEL1 complex is DISC1-PDE4 modulated and likely to regulate its neural functions.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
11PLoS ONE 2011 -1 6: e23450
PMID21853134
TitleSequencing of DISC1 pathway genes reveals increased burden of rare missense variants in schizophrenia patients from a northern Swedish population.
AbstractIn recent years, DISC1 has emerged as one of the most credible and best supported candidate genes for schizophrenia and related neuropsychiatric disorders. Furthermore, increasing evidence--both genetic and functional--indicates that many of its protein interaction partners are also involved in the development of these diseases. In this study, we applied a pooled sample 454 sequencing strategy, to explore the contribution of genetic variation in DISC1 and 10 of its interaction partners (ATF5, Grb2, FEZ1, LIS-1, PDE4B, NDE1, NDEL1, TRAF3IP1, YWHAE, and ZNF365) to schizophrenia susceptibility in an isolated northern Swedish population. Mutation burden analysis of the identified variants in a population of 486 SZ patients and 514 control individuals, revealed that non-synonymous rare variants with a MAF<0.01 were significantly more present in patients compared to controls (8.64% versus 4.7%, P?=?0.018), providing further evidence for the involvement of DISC1 and some of its interaction partners in psychiatric disorders. This increased burden of rare missense variants was even more striking in a subgroup of early onset patients (12.9% versus 4.7%, P?=?0.0004), highlighting the importance of studying subgroups of patients and identifying endophenotypes. Upon investigation of the potential functional effects associated with the identified missense variants, we found that ?90% of these variants reside in intrinsically disordered protein regions. The observed increase in mutation burden in patients provides further support for the role of the DISC1 pathway in schizophrenia. Furthermore, this study presents the first evidence supporting the involvement of mutations within intrinsically disordered protein regions in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. As many important biological functions depend directly on the disordered state, alteration of this disorder in key pathways may represent an intriguing new disease mechanism for schizophrenia and related neuropsychiatric diseases. Further research into this unexplored domain will be required to elucidate the role of the identified variants in schizophrenia etiology.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
12Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 2011 Mar 156: 204-14
PMID21302349
TitleInherited balanced translocation t(9;17)(q33.2;q25.3) concomitant with a 16p13.1 duplication in a patient with schizophrenia.
AbstractWe report two rare genetic aberrations in a schizophrenia patient that may act together to confer disease susceptibility. A previously unreported balanced t(9;17)(q33.2;q25.3) translocation was observed in two schizophrenia-affected members of a small family with diverse psychiatric disorders. The proband also carried a 1.5?Mbp microduplication at 16p13.1 that could not be investigated in other family members. The duplication has been reported to predispose to schizophrenia, autism and mental retardation, with incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity. The t(9;17) (q33.2;q25.3) translocation breakpoint occurs within the open reading frames of KIAA1618 on 17q25.3, and TTLL11 (tyrosine tubulin ligase like 11) on 9q33.2, causing no change in the expression level of KIAA1618 but leading to loss of expression of one TTLL11 allele. TTLL11 belongs to a family of enzymes catalyzing polyglutamylation, an unusual neuron-specific post-translational modification of microtubule proteins, which modulates microtubule development and dynamics. The 16p13.1 duplication resulted in increased expression of NDE1, encoding a DISC1 protein partner mediating DISC1 functions in microtubule dynamics. We hypothesize that concomitant TTLL11-NDE1 deregulation may increase mutation load, among others, also on the DISC1 pathway, which could contribute to disease pathogenesis through multiple effects on neuronal development, synaptic plasticity, and neurotransmission. Our data illustrate the difficulties in interpreting the contribution of multiple potentially pathogenic changes likely to emerge in future next-generation sequencing studies, where access to extended families will be increasingly important.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
13Mol. Psychiatry 2011 Jan 16: 17-25
PMID19786961
TitleCopy number variations of chromosome 16p13.1 region associated with schizophrenia.
AbstractDeletions and reciprocal duplications of the chromosome 16p13.1 region have recently been reported in several cases of autism and mental retardation (MR). As genomic copy number variants found in these two disorders may also associate with schizophrenia, we examined 4345 schizophrenia patients and 35,079 controls from 8 European populations for duplications and deletions at the 16p13.1 locus, using microarray data. We found a threefold excess of duplications and deletions in schizophrenia cases compared with controls, with duplications present in 0.30% of cases versus 0.09% of controls (P=0.007) and deletions in 0.12 % of cases and 0.04% of controls (P>0.05). The region can be divided into three intervals defined by flanking low copy repeats. Duplications spanning intervals I and II showed the most significant (P = 0.00010) association with schizophrenia. The age of onset in duplication and deletion carriers among cases ranged from 12 to 35 years, and the majority were males with a family history of psychiatric disorders. In a single Icelandic family, a duplication spanning intervals I and II was present in two cases of schizophrenia, and individual cases of alcoholism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia. Candidate genes in the region include NTAN1 and NDE1. We conclude that duplications and perhaps also deletions of chromosome 16p13.1, previously reported to be associated with autism and MR, also confer risk of schizophrenia.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
14Neuropharmacology 2012 Mar 62: 1230-41
PMID21195721
TitleDISC1-binding proteins in neural development, signalling and schizophrenia.
AbstractIn the decade since Disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) was first identified it has become one of the most convincing risk genes for major mental illness. As a multi-functional scaffold protein, DISC1 has multiple identified protein interaction partners that highlight pathologically relevant molecular pathways with potential for pharmaceutical intervention. Amongst these are proteins involved in neuronal migration (e.g. APP, Dixdc1, LIS1, NDE1, NDEL1), neural progenitor proliferation (GSK3?), neurosignalling (Girdin, GSK3?, PDE4) and synaptic function (Kal7, TNIK). Furthermore, emerging evidence of genetic association (NDEL1, PCM1, PDE4B) and copy number variation (NDE1) implicate several DISC1-binding partners as risk factors for schizophrenia in their own right. Thus, a picture begins to emerge of DISC1 as a key hub for multiple critical developmental pathways within the brain, disruption of which can lead to a variety of psychiatric illness phenotypes.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
15J. Biol. Chem. 2012 Sep 287: 32381-93
PMID22843697
TitleThe mitosis and neurodevelopment proteins NDE1 and NDEL1 form dimers, tetramers, and polymers with a folded back structure in solution.
AbstractParalogs NDE1 (nuclear distribution element 1) and NDEL1 (NDE-like 1) are essential for mitosis and neurodevelopment. Both proteins are predicted to have similar structures, based upon high sequence similarity, and they co-complex in mammalian cells. X-ray diffraction studies and homology modeling suggest that their N-terminal regions (residues 8-167) adopt continuous, extended ?-helical coiled-coil structures, but no experimentally derived information on the structure of their C-terminal regions or the architecture of the full-length proteins is available. In the case of NDE1, no biophysical data exists. Here we characterize the structural architecture of both full-length proteins utilizing negative stain electron microscopy along with our established paradigm of chemical cross-linking followed by tryptic digestion, mass spectrometry, and database searching, which we enhance using isotope labeling for mixed NDE1-NDEL1. We determined that full-length NDE1 forms needle-like dimers and tetramers in solution, similar to crystal structures of NDEL1, as well as chain-like end-to-end polymers. The C-terminal domain of each protein, required for interaction with key protein partners dynein and DISC1 (disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1), includes a predicted disordered region that allows a bent back structure. This facilitates interaction of the C-terminal region with the N-terminal coiled-coil domain and is in agreement with previous results showing N- and C-terminal regions of NDEL1 and NDE1 cooperating in dynein interaction. It sheds light on recently identified mutations in the NDE1 gene that cause truncation of the encoded protein. Additionally, analysis of mixed NDE1-NDEL1 complexes demonstrates that NDE1 and NDEL1 can interact directly.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
16PLoS ONE 2012 -1 7: e34813
PMID22523559
TitleNeuropathology of 16p13.11 deletion in epilepsy.
Abstract16p13.11 genomic copy number variants are implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, autism, mental retardation, ADHD and epilepsy. The mechanisms leading to the diverse clinical manifestations of deletions and duplications at this locus are unknown. Most studies favour NDE1 as the leading disease-causing candidate gene at 16p13.11. In epilepsy at least, the deletion does not appear to unmask recessive-acting mutations in NDE1, with haploinsufficiency and genetic modifiers being prime candidate disease mechanisms. NDE1 encodes a protein critical to cell positioning during cortical development. As a first step, it is important to determine whether 16p13.11 copy number change translates to detectable brain structural alteration. We undertook detailed neuropathology on surgically resected brain tissue of two patients with intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), who had the same heterozygous NDE1-containing 800 kb 16p13.11 deletion, using routine histological stains and immunohistochemical markers against a range of layer-specific, white matter, neural precursor and migratory cell proteins, and NDE1 itself. Surgical temporal lobectomy samples from a MTLE case known not to have a deletion in NDE1 and three non-epilepsy cases were included as disease controls. We found that apart from a 3 mm hamartia in the temporal cortex of one MTLE case with NDE1 deletion and known hippocampal sclerosis in the other case, cortical lamination and cytoarchitecture were normal, with no differences between cases with deletion and disease controls. How 16p13.11 copy changes lead to a variety of brain diseases remains unclear, but at least in epilepsy, it would not seem to be through structural abnormality or dyslamination as judged by microscopy or immunohistochemistry. The need to integrate additional data with genetic findings to determine their significance will become more pressing as genetic technologies generate increasingly rich datasets. Detailed examination of brain tissue, where available, will be an important part of this process in neurogenetic disease specifically.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
17PLoS ONE 2013 -1 8: e61365
PMID23637818
TitleMale-biased autosomal effect of 16p13.11 copy number variation in neurodevelopmental disorders.
AbstractCopy number variants (CNVs) at chromosome 16p13.11 have been associated with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism, ADHD, intellectual disability and schizophrenia. Significant sex differences in prevalence, course and severity have been described for a number of these conditions but the biological and environmental factors underlying such sex-specific features remain unclear. We tested the burden and the possible sex-biased effect of CNVs at 16p13.11 in a sample of 10,397 individuals with a range of neurodevelopmental conditions, clinically referred for array comparative genomic hybridisation (aCGH); cases were compared with 11,277 controls. In order to identify candidate phenotype-associated genes, we performed an interval-based analysis and investigated the presence of ohnologs at 16p13.11; finally, we searched the DECIPHER database for previously identified 16p13.11 copy number variants. In the clinical referral series, we identified 46 cases with CNVs of variable size at 16p13.11, including 28 duplications and 18 deletions. Patients were referred for various phenotypes, including developmental delay, autism, speech delay, learning difficulties, behavioural problems, epilepsy, microcephaly and physical dysmorphisms. CNVs at 16p13.11 were also present in 17 controls. Association analysis revealed an excess of CNVs in cases compared with controls (OR?=?2.59; p?=?0.0005), and a sex-biased effect, with a significant enrichment of CNVs only in the male subgroup of cases (OR?=?5.62; p?=?0.0002), but not in females (OR?=?1.19, p?=?0.673). The same pattern of results was also observed in the DECIPHER sample. Interval-based analysis showed a significant enrichment of case CNVs containing interval II (OR?=?2.59; p?=?0.0005), located in the 0.83 Mb genomic region between 15.49-16.32 Mb, and encompassing the four ohnologs NDE1, MYH11, ABCC1 and ABCC6. Our data confirm that duplications and deletions at 16p13.11 represent incompletely penetrant pathogenic mutations that predispose to a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, and suggest a sex-limited effect on the penetrance of the pathological phenotypes at the 16p13.11 locus.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
18World J Psychiatry 2013 Sep 3: 57-61
PMID24255876
TitleNew findings in the genetics of schizophrenia.
AbstractNew findings in schizophrenia genetics are based on genome-wide association studies (GWAS), research into DNA copy number variations (CNVs), and endophenotypes. More than 70 genes have recently been suspected to be involved in the genetic background of schizophrenia based on the GWAS´s results. They are typically related to neurodevelopment/neuroplasticity, immunology and neuroendocrinology. Nevertheless, for many detected genes their possible relationship to schizophrenia etiopathogenesis is still unknown. The CNVs at genome loci 1q21.1 (candidate gene e.g., PRKAB2), 2p16.3 (candidate gene e.g., NRXN1), 3q29 (candidate genes e.g., BDH1, DLG1, PAK2 or TFRC), 15q11.2 (candidate gene e.g., CYFIP1), 15q13.3 (candidate gene e.g., CHRNA7), 16p13.1 (candidate genes e.g.,NTAN1 or NDE1) and 22q11.2 (candidate genes e.g., COMT, GSTT2 or PRODH) were associated with schizophrenia most frequently. Genetic research of schizophrenia endophenotypes, usually neurophysiological, neuromotoric, neurocognitive, neuroanatomical, neurological or personality-related, will help us to discover the role of relevant genes in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. It is also necessary to integrate knowledge from other research platforms in schizophrenia, like epigenetics, studies of gene-environment interactions, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, neuroimaging and psychopathology. A better knowledge of the genetic background of schizophrenia can lead to changes in the treatment, prevention and genetic counselling. It may also reduce stigma in this severe mental disorder.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
19Schizophr Bull 2014 Nov 40: 1285-99
PMID24664977
TitleSystematic prioritization and integrative analysis of copy number variations in schizophrenia reveal key schizophrenia susceptibility genes.
Abstractschizophrenia is a common mental disorder with high heritability and strong genetic heterogeneity. Common disease-common variants hypothesis predicts that schizophrenia is attributable in part to common genetic variants. However, recent studies have clearly demonstrated that copy number variations (CNVs) also play pivotal roles in schizophrenia susceptibility and explain a proportion of missing heritability. Though numerous CNVs have been identified, many of the regions affected by CNVs show poor overlapping among different studies, and it is not known whether the genes disrupted by CNVs contribute to the risk of schizophrenia. By using cumulative scoring, we systematically prioritized the genes affected by CNVs in schizophrenia. We identified 8 top genes that are frequently disrupted by CNVs, including NRXN1, CHRNA7, BCL9, CYFIP1, GJA8, NDE1, SNAP29, and GJA5. Integration of genes affected by CNVs with known schizophrenia susceptibility genes (from previous genetic linkage and association studies) reveals that many genes disrupted by CNVs are also associated with schizophrenia. Further protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis indicates that protein products of genes affected by CNVs frequently interact with known schizophrenia-associated proteins. Finally, systematic integration of CNVs prioritization data with genetic association and PPI data identifies key schizophrenia candidate genes. Our results provide a global overview of genes impacted by CNVs in schizophrenia and reveal a densely interconnected molecular network of de novo CNVs in schizophrenia. Though the prioritized top genes represent promising schizophrenia risk genes, further work with different prioritization methods and independent samples is needed to confirm these findings. Nevertheless, the identified key candidate genes may have important roles in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, and further functional characterization of these genes may provide pivotal targets for future therapeutics and diagnostics.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
20Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2014 Jan 111: 361-6
PMID24368850
TitleOhnologs are overrepresented in pathogenic copy number mutations.
AbstractA number of rare copy number variants (CNVs), including both deletions and duplications, have been associated with developmental disorders, including schizophrenia, autism, intellectual disability, and epilepsy. Pathogenicity may derive from dosage sensitivity of one or more genes contained within the CNV locus. To understand pathophysiology, the specific disease-causing gene(s) within each CNV need to be identified. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that ohnologs (genes retained after ancestral whole-genome duplication events, which are frequently dosage sensitive) are overrepresented in pathogenic CNVs. We selected three sets of genes implicated in copy number pathogenicity: (i) genes mapping within rare disease-associated CNVs, (ii) genes within de novo CNVs under negative genetic selection, and (iii) genes identified by clinical array comparative genome hybridization studies as potentially pathogenic. We compared the proportion of ohnologs between these gene sets and control genes, mapping to CNVs not known to be disease associated. We found that ohnologs are significantly overrepresented in genes mapping to pathogenic CNVs, irrespective of how CNVs were identified, with over 90% containing an ohnolog, compared with control CNVs >100 kb, where only about 30% contained an ohnolog. In some CNVs, such as del15p11.2 (CYFIP1) and dup/del16p13.11 (NDE1), the most plausible prior candidate gene was also an ohnolog, as were the genes VIPR2 and NRXN1, each found in short CNVs containing no other genes. Our results support the hypothesis that ohnologs represent critical dosage-sensitive elements of the genome, possibly responsible for some of the deleterious phenotypes observed for pathogenic CNVs and as such are readily identifiable candidate genes for further study.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
21Mol Neuropsychiatry 2015 Oct 1: 175-190
PMID27239468
TitleCopy Number Variations in DISC1 and DISC1-Interacting Partners in Major Mental Illness.
AbstractRobust statistical, genetic and functional evidence supports a role for DISC1 in the aetiology of major mental illness. Furthermore, many of its protein-binding partners show evidence for involvement in the pathophysiology of a range of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Copy number variants (CNVs) are suspected to play an important causal role in these disorders. In this study, CNV analysis of DISC1 and its binding partners PAFAH1B1, NDE1, NDEL1, FEZ1, MAP1A, CIT and PDE4B in Scottish and Northern Swedish population-based samples was carried out using multiplex amplicon quantification. Here, we report the finding of rare CNVs in DISC1, NDE1 (together with adjacent genes within the 16p13.11 duplication), NDEL1 (including the overlapping MYH10 gene) and CIT. Our findings provide further evidence for involvement of DISC1 and its interaction partners in neuropsychiatric disorders and also for a role of structural variants in the aetiology of these devastating diseases.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
22Schizophr Bull 2015 May 41: 744-53
PMID25332407
TitleIdentification of Rare, Single-Nucleotide Mutations in NDE1 and Their Contributions to Schizophrenia Susceptibility.
AbstractNuclear distribution E homolog 1 (NDE1), located within chromosome 16p13.11, plays an essential role in microtubule organization, mitosis, and neuronal migration and has been suggested by several studies of rare copy number variants to be a promising schizophrenia (SCZ) candidate gene. Recently, increasing attention has been paid to rare single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) discovered by deep sequencing of candidate genes, because such SNVs may have large effect sizes and their functional analysis may clarify etiopathology.
We conducted mutation screening of NDE1 coding exons using 433 SCZ and 145 pervasive developmental disorders samples in order to identify rare single nucleotide variants with a minor allele frequency ?5%. We then performed genetic association analysis using a large number of unrelated individuals (3554 SCZ, 1041 bipolar disorder [BD], and 4746 controls). Among the discovered novel rare variants, we detected significant associations between SCZ and S214F (P = .039), and between BD and R234C (P = .032). Furthermore, functional assays showed that S214F affected axonal outgrowth and the interaction between NDE1 and YWHAE (14-3-3 epsilon; a neurodevelopmental regulator).
This study strengthens the evidence for association between rare variants within NDE1 and SCZ, and may shed light into the molecular mechanisms underlying this severe psychiatric disorder.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
23Psychiatry Res 2015 Dec 230: 194-9
PMID26350705
TitleAn interaction between NDE1 and high birth weight increases schizophrenia susceptibility.
AbstractPre- and perinatal environmental factors have been shown to increase schizophrenia risk particularly when combined with genetic liability. The investigation of specific gene environment interactions in the etiology of psychiatric disorders has gained momentum. We used multivariate GEE regression modeling to investigate the interaction between genes of the DISC1 pathway and birth weight, in relation to schizophrenia susceptibility in a Finnish schizophrenia family cohort. The study sample consisted of 457 subjects with both genotype and birth weight information. Gender and place of birth were adjusted for in the models. We found a significant interaction between birth weight and two NDE1 markers in relation to increased schizophrenia risk: a four SNP haplotype spanning NDE1 (b=1.26, SE=0.5, p=0.012) and one of its constituent SNPs rs4781678 (b=1.33, SE=0.51, p=0.010). Specifically, high birth weight (>4000g) was associated with increased schizophrenia risk among subjects homozygous for the previously identified risk alleles. The study was based on a family study sample with high genetic loading for schizophrenia and thus our findings cannot directly be generalized as representing the general population. Our results suggest that the functions mediated by NDE1 during the early stages of neurodevelopment are susceptible to the additional disruptive effects of pre- and perinatal environmental factors associated with high birth weight, augmenting schizophrenia susceptibility.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
24Neuroscience 2016 Jun 324: 262-70
PMID26975893
TitleCloning of the promoter of NDE1, a gene implicated in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders through copy number variation.
AbstractCopy number variation at 16p13.11 has been associated with a range of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions, with duplication of this region being more common in individuals with schizophrenia. A prominent candidate gene within this locus is NDE1 (Nuclear Distribution Element 1) given its known importance for neurodevelopment, previous associations with mental illness and its well characterized interaction with the Disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) protein. In order to accurately model the effect of NDE1 duplication, it is important to first gain an understanding of how the gene is expressed. The complex promoter system of NDE1, which produces three distinct transcripts, each encoding for the same full-length NDE1 protein (also known as NudE), was therefore cloned and tested in human cell lines. The promoter for the longest of these three NDE1 transcripts was found to be responsible for the majority of expression in these systems, with its extended 5' untranslated region (UTR) having a limiting effect on its expression. These results thus highlight and clone the promoter elements required to generate systems in which the NDE1 protein is exogenously expressed under its native promoter, providing a biologically relevant model of 16p13.11 duplication in major mental illness.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia