1Biochem. Soc. Trans. 2010 Apr 38: 445-51
PMID20298200
TitleConfirmed rare copy number variants implicate novel genes in schizophrenia.
AbstractUnderstanding how cognitive processes including learning, memory, decision making and ideation are encoded by the genome is a key question in biology. Identification of sets of genes underlying human mental disorders is a path towards this objective. schizophrenia is a common disease with cognitive symptoms, high heritability and complex genetics. We have identified genes involved with schizophrenia by measuring differences in DNA copy number across the entire genome in 91 schizophrenia cases and 92 controls in the Scottish population. Our data reproduce rare and common variants observed in public domain data from >3000 schizophrenia cases, confirming known disease loci as well as identifying novel loci. We found copy number variants in PDE10A (phosphodiesterase 10A), CYFIP1 [cytoplasmic FMR1 (Fragile X mental retardation 1)-interacting protein 1], K(+) channel genes KCNE1 and KCNE2, the Down's syndrome critical region 1 gene RCAN1 (regulator of calcineurin 1), cell-recognition protein CHL1 (cell adhesion molecule with homology with L1CAM), the transcription factor SP4 (specificity protein 4) and histone deacetylase HDAC9, among others (see http://www.genes2cognition.org/SCZ-CNV). Integrating the function of these many genes into a coherent model of schizophrenia and cognition is a major unanswered challenge.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
2Am J Stem Cells 2012 -1 1: 31-41
PMID23671795
TitleHDAC9 is implicated in schizophrenia and expressed specifically in post-mitotic neurons but not in adult neural stem cells.
Abstractschizophrenia is a common psychiatric disorder and caused by a combination of environmental, social and genetic factors. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) can translate epigenetic effects to the genome by modifying chromatin structure and gene expression. Inappropriate activity of HDACs is associated with cancer, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, and HDAC inhibitors are shown to improve the derivation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and to modulate cell lineage differentiation during brain development. We demonstrate that one of the HDAC genes, HDAC9, is hemizygously deleted in a small proportion of schizophrenia patients, and is widely expressed in mouse brain including areas where the neuropathology of schizophrenia is found. High levels of expression are observed in the hippocampus, layers II/III and V of the cerebral cortex, prefrontal and medial prefrontal cortex, piriform and cingulum cortex, basolateral amygdaloid nuclei and choroid plexus. HDAC9 protein is found in the cell body as well as in nerve fibers. Importantly, HDAC9 is not expressed in adult neural stem cells, glia, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes, but expressed exclusively in post-mitotic and mature neurons. Our data suggest that HDAC9 may play a crucial role in neuronal function of adult brain.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia
3Schizophr. Res. 2014 Dec 160: 97-103
PMID25445625
TitleFamily-based association study of common variants, rare mutation study and epistatic interaction detection in HDAC genes in schizophrenia.
AbstractHistone deacetylases (HDACs) are key enzymes of histone acetylation, and abnormalities in histone modifications and in the level of HDAC proteins have been reported in schizophrenia. The objective of the present study was to systematically test the HDAC genes for its association with schizophrenia.
A family-based genetic association study (951 Caucasian subjects in 313 nuclear families) using 601 tag-single nucleotide polymorphisms in HDAC genes was conducted followed by a replication study of top-ranked markers in a sample of 1427 Caucasian subjects from 241 multiplex families and 176 trios. Epistasis interaction was tested by using the pedigree-based generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR). Furthermore, we analyzed exome sequencing data of 1134 subjects for detection of rare mutations in HDAC genomic regions.
In the exploratory study, ten markers were in significant association with schizophrenia (P<0.01). One maker rs14251 (HDAC3) was replicated (P=0.04) and remained significant in the whole sample (P=0.004). GMDR identified that a significant three-locus interaction model was detected involving rs17265596 (HDAC9), rs7290710 (HDAC10) and rs7634112 (HDAC11) with a good testing accuracy (0.58). No rare mutations were found associated with schizophrenia.
This first exploratory systematic study of the HDAC genes provides consistent support for the involvement of the HDAC3 gene in the etiology of schizophrenia. A statistical epistatic interaction between HDAC9, HDAC10, and HDAC11 was detected and seems biologically plausible.
SCZ Keywordsschizophrenia