1Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2002 Apr 99: 4755-6
PMID11959925
TitleA compelling genetic hypothesis for a complex disease: PRODH2/DGCR6 variation leads to schizophrenia susceptibility.
Abstract-1
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
2Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2002 Mar 99: 3717-22
PMID11891283
TitleGenetic variation at the 22q11 PRODH2/DGCR6 locus presents an unusual pattern and increases susceptibility to schizophrenia.
AbstractThe location of a schizophrenia susceptibility locus at chromosome 22q11 has been suggested by genome-wide linkage studies. Additional support was provided by the observation of a higher-than-expected frequency of 22q11 microdeletions in patients with schizophrenia and the demonstration that approximately 20-30% of individuals with 22q11 microdeletions develop schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder in adolescence and adulthood. Analysis of the extent of these microdeletions by using polymorphic markers afforded further refinement of this locus to a region of approximately 1.5 Mb. Recently, a high rate of 22q11 microdeletions was also reported for a cohort of 47 patients with Childhood Onset schizophrenia, a rare and severe form of schizophrenia with onset by age 13. It is therefore likely that this 1.5-Mb region contains one or more genes that predispose to schizophrenia. In three independent samples, we provide evidence for a contribution of the PRODH2/DGCR6 locus in 22q11-associated schizophrenia. We also uncover an unusual pattern of PRODH2 gene variation that mimics the sequence of a linked pseudogene. Several of the pseudogene-like variants we identified result in missense changes at conserved residues and may prevent synthesis of a fully functional enzyme. Our results have implications for understanding the genetic basis of the 22q11-associated psychiatric phenotypes and provide further insights into the genomic instability of this region.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
3Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 2004 Aug 129B: 13-5
PMID15274030
TitleEvidence for association between novel polymorphisms in the PRODH gene and schizophrenia in a Chinese population.
AbstractHaploinsufficiency for or mutation in at least one gene from the velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) region at chromosome 22q11 is implicated in psychosis. Linkage disequilibrium mapping of the region in patients identified a segment containing two genes, proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) and DGCR6, as candidates [Liu et al., 2002a] and by analysis of additional polymorphisms the PRODH gene was associated with schizophrenia in adult and early onset patients. In the present study we provide additional evidence in support of genetic association between PRODH and schizophrenia in a Chinese population. We analyzed the PRODH gene in a samples of schizophrenic patients and their families from Sichuan, SW China consisting of 528 family trios and sibling pairs. We genotyped six SNPs, PRODH*1195C-->T, PRODH*1482C-->T, PRODH*1483A-->G, PRODH*1766A-->G, PRODH*1852G-->A PRODH*1945T-->C, two of which (PRODH*1483A-->G and PRODH*1852G-->A) have not been previously reported. We found association with schizophrenia for two haplotypes consisting of PRODH*1945T-->C and PRODH*1852G-->A (Global P = 0.006), and PRODH*1852G-->A and PRODH*1766A-->G (Global P = 0.01) which include one of the newly identified markers. After six-fold Bonferroni correction for multiple testing the PRODH*1945T-C/PRODH*1852G-A haplotypes remained significant. This is a sub-haplotype of the PRODH haplotype previously associated with schizophrenia and it also maps to the 3' region of the gene, indicating that this is the region most likely to contain the underlying risk alleles. Overall this finding supports a role for the PRODH locus in schizophrenia.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
4Am. J. Med. Genet. B Neuropsychiatr. Genet. 2004 Aug 129B: 13-5
PMID15274030
TitleEvidence for association between novel polymorphisms in the PRODH gene and schizophrenia in a Chinese population.
AbstractHaploinsufficiency for or mutation in at least one gene from the velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) region at chromosome 22q11 is implicated in psychosis. Linkage disequilibrium mapping of the region in patients identified a segment containing two genes, proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) and DGCR6, as candidates [Liu et al., 2002a] and by analysis of additional polymorphisms the PRODH gene was associated with schizophrenia in adult and early onset patients. In the present study we provide additional evidence in support of genetic association between PRODH and schizophrenia in a Chinese population. We analyzed the PRODH gene in a samples of schizophrenic patients and their families from Sichuan, SW China consisting of 528 family trios and sibling pairs. We genotyped six SNPs, PRODH*1195C-->T, PRODH*1482C-->T, PRODH*1483A-->G, PRODH*1766A-->G, PRODH*1852G-->A PRODH*1945T-->C, two of which (PRODH*1483A-->G and PRODH*1852G-->A) have not been previously reported. We found association with schizophrenia for two haplotypes consisting of PRODH*1945T-->C and PRODH*1852G-->A (Global P = 0.006), and PRODH*1852G-->A and PRODH*1766A-->G (Global P = 0.01) which include one of the newly identified markers. After six-fold Bonferroni correction for multiple testing the PRODH*1945T-C/PRODH*1852G-A haplotypes remained significant. This is a sub-haplotype of the PRODH haplotype previously associated with schizophrenia and it also maps to the 3' region of the gene, indicating that this is the region most likely to contain the underlying risk alleles. Overall this finding supports a role for the PRODH locus in schizophrenia.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
5Cell. Physiol. Biochem. 2007 -1 20: 687-702
PMID17982252
TitleMolecular mechanisms of schizophrenia.
Abstractschizophrenia is a complex disorder, where family, twin and adoption studies have been demonstrating a high heritability of the disease and that this disease is not simply defined by several major genes but rather evolves from addition or potentiation of a specific cluster of genes, which subsequently determines the genetic vulnerability of an individual. Linkage and association studies suggest that a genetic vulnerablility, is not forcefully leading to the disease since triggering factors and environmental influences, i.e. birth complications, drug abuse, urban background or time of birth have been identified. This has lead to the assumption that schizophrenia is not only a genetically defined static disorder but a dynamic process leading to dysregulation of multiple pathways. There are several different hypothesis based on several facets of the disease, some of them due to the relatively well-known mechanisms of therapeutic agents. The most widely considered neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia integrates environmental influences and causative genes. The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is based on the fact that all common treatments involve antidopaminergic mechanisms and genes such as DRD2, DRD3, DARPP-32, BDNF or COMT are closely related to dopaminergic system functioning. The glutamatergic hypothesis of schizophrenia lead recently to a first successful mGlu2/3 receptor agonistic drug and is underpinned by significant findings in genes regulating the glutamatergic system (SLC1A6, SLC1A2 GRIN1, GRIN2A, GRIA1, NRG1, ErbB4, DTNBP1, DAAO, G72/30, GRM3). Correspondingly, GABA has been proposed to modulate the pathophysiology of the disease which is represented by the involvement of genes like GABRA1, GABRP, GABRA6 and Reelin. Moreover, several genes implicating immune, signaling and networking deficits have been reported to be involved in the disease, i.e. DISC1, RGS4, PRODH, DGCR6, ZDHHC8, DGCR2, Akt, CREB, IL-1B, IL-1RN, IL-10, IL-1B. However, molecular findings suggest that a complex interplay between receptors, kinases, proteins and hormones is involved in schizophrenia. In a unifying hypothesis, different cascades merge into another that ultimately lead to the development of symptoms adherent to schizophrenic disorders.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
6Cell. Physiol. Biochem. 2007 -1 20: 687-702
PMID17982252
TitleMolecular mechanisms of schizophrenia.
Abstractschizophrenia is a complex disorder, where family, twin and adoption studies have been demonstrating a high heritability of the disease and that this disease is not simply defined by several major genes but rather evolves from addition or potentiation of a specific cluster of genes, which subsequently determines the genetic vulnerability of an individual. Linkage and association studies suggest that a genetic vulnerablility, is not forcefully leading to the disease since triggering factors and environmental influences, i.e. birth complications, drug abuse, urban background or time of birth have been identified. This has lead to the assumption that schizophrenia is not only a genetically defined static disorder but a dynamic process leading to dysregulation of multiple pathways. There are several different hypothesis based on several facets of the disease, some of them due to the relatively well-known mechanisms of therapeutic agents. The most widely considered neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia integrates environmental influences and causative genes. The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is based on the fact that all common treatments involve antidopaminergic mechanisms and genes such as DRD2, DRD3, DARPP-32, BDNF or COMT are closely related to dopaminergic system functioning. The glutamatergic hypothesis of schizophrenia lead recently to a first successful mGlu2/3 receptor agonistic drug and is underpinned by significant findings in genes regulating the glutamatergic system (SLC1A6, SLC1A2 GRIN1, GRIN2A, GRIA1, NRG1, ErbB4, DTNBP1, DAAO, G72/30, GRM3). Correspondingly, GABA has been proposed to modulate the pathophysiology of the disease which is represented by the involvement of genes like GABRA1, GABRP, GABRA6 and Reelin. Moreover, several genes implicating immune, signaling and networking deficits have been reported to be involved in the disease, i.e. DISC1, RGS4, PRODH, DGCR6, ZDHHC8, DGCR2, Akt, CREB, IL-1B, IL-1RN, IL-10, IL-1B. However, molecular findings suggest that a complex interplay between receptors, kinases, proteins and hormones is involved in schizophrenia. In a unifying hypothesis, different cascades merge into another that ultimately lead to the development of symptoms adherent to schizophrenic disorders.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
7Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 2009 Sep 66: 947-56
PMID19736351
TitleRecurrent rearrangements in synaptic and neurodevelopmental genes and shared biologic pathways in schizophrenia, autism, and mental retardation.
AbstractResults of comparative genomic hybridization studies have suggested that rare copy number variations (CNVs) at numerous loci are involved in the cause of mental retardation, autism spectrum disorders, and schizophrenia.
To provide an estimate of the collective frequency of a set of recurrent or overlapping CNVs in 3 different groups of cases compared with healthy control subjects and to assess whether each CNV is present in more than 1 clinical category.
Case-control study.
Academic research.
We investigated 28 candidate loci previously identified by comparative genomic hybridization studies for gene dosage alteration in 247 cases with mental retardation, in 260 cases with autism spectrum disorders, in 236 cases with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, and in 236 controls.
Collective and individual frequencies of the analyzed CNVs in cases compared with controls.
Recurrent or overlapping CNVs were found in cases at 39.3% of the selected loci. The collective frequency of CNVs at these loci is significantly increased in cases with autism, in cases with schizophrenia, and in cases with mental retardation compared with controls (P < .001, P = .01, and P = .001, respectively, Fisher exact test). Individual significance (P = .02 without correction for multiple testing) was reached for the association between autism and a 350-kilobase deletion located at 22q11 and spanning the PRODH and DGCR6 genes.
Weakly to moderately recurrent CNVs (transmitted or occurring de novo) seem to be causative or contributory factors for these diseases. Most of these CNVs (which contain genes involved in neurotransmission or in synapse formation and maintenance) are present in the 3 pathologic conditions (schizophrenia, autism, and mental retardation), supporting the existence of shared biologic pathways in these neurodevelopmental disorders.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic
8Int. J. Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Aug 16: 1483-503
PMID23442539
TitleGene expression profiling in treatment-naive schizophrenia patients identifies abnormalities in biological pathways involving AKT1 that are corrected by antipsychotic medication.
AbstractDistinct gene expression profiles can be detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with schizophrenia; however, little is known about the effects of antipsychotic medication. This study compared gene expression profiles in PMBCs from treatment-naive patients with schizophrenia before and after antipsychotic drug treatment. PBMCs were obtained from 10 treatment-naive schizophrenia patients before and 6 wk after initiating antipsychotic drug treatment and compared to PMBCs collected from 11 healthy community volunteers. Genome-wide expression profiling was conducted using Illumina HumanHT-12 expression bead arrays and analysed using significance analysis of microarrays. This analysis identified 624 genes with altered expression (208 up-regulated, 416 down-regulated) prior to antipsychotic treatment (p < 0.05) including schizophrenia-associated genes AKT1, DISC1 and DGCR6. After 6-8 wk treatment of patients with risperidone or risperidone in combination with haloperidol, only 106 genes were altered, suggesting that the treatment corrected the expression of a large proportion of genes back to control levels. However, 67 genes continued to show the same directional change in expression after treatment. IngenuityŽ pathway analysis and gene set enrichment analysis implicated dysregulation of biological functions and pathways related to inflammation and immunity in patients with schizophrenia. A number of the top canonical pathways dysregulated in treatment-naive patients signal through AKT1 that was up-regulated. After treatment, AKT1 returned to control levels and less dysregulation of these canonical pathways was observed. This study supports immune dysfunction and pathways involving AKT1 in the aetiopathophysiology of schizophrenia and their response to antipsychotic medication.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia, schizophrenic