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Lips ES, Cornelisse LN, Toonen RF, Min JL, Hultman CM, Holmans PA, O'Donovan MC, Purcell SM, Smit AB, Verhage M, Sullivan PF, Visscher PM, Posthuma D. Functional gene group analysis identifies synaptic gene groups as risk factor for schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry 2012; 17:996-1006. [PMID: 21931320 PMCID: PMC3449234 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2011.117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2011] [Revised: 07/21/2011] [Accepted: 08/01/2011] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a highly heritable disorder with a polygenic pattern of inheritance and a population prevalence of ~1%. Previous studies have implicated synaptic dysfunction in schizophrenia. We tested the accumulated association of genetic variants in expert-curated synaptic gene groups with schizophrenia in 4673 cases and 4965 healthy controls, using functional gene group analysis. Identifying groups of genes with similar cellular function rather than genes in isolation may have clinical implications for finding additional drug targets. We found that a group of 1026 synaptic genes was significantly associated with the risk of schizophrenia (P=7.6 × 10(-11)) and more strongly associated than 100 randomly drawn, matched control groups of genetic variants (P<0.01). Subsequent analysis of synaptic subgroups suggested that the strongest association signals are derived from three synaptic gene groups: intracellular signal transduction (P=2.0 × 10(-4)), excitability (P=9.0 × 10(-4)) and cell adhesion and trans-synaptic signaling (P=2.4 × 10(-3)). These results are consistent with a role of synaptic dysfunction in schizophrenia and imply that impaired intracellular signal transduction in synapses, synaptic excitability and cell adhesion and trans-synaptic signaling play a role in the pathology of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- E S Lips
- Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - L N Cornelisse
- Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - R F Toonen
- Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - J L Min
- Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - C M Hultman
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Ulleråker, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - the International Schizophrenia Consortium13
- Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Ulleråker, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- School of Medicine, Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Queensland Statistical Genetics Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Department of Medical Genomics, VU Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - P A Holmans
- School of Medicine, Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - M C O'Donovan
- School of Medicine, Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - S M Purcell
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - A B Smit
- Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - M Verhage
- Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - P F Sullivan
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - P M Visscher
- Queensland Statistical Genetics Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - D Posthuma
- Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Medical Genomics, VU Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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