title: Modest evidence for linkage and possible confirmation of association between NOTCH4 and schizophrenia in a large Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study sample.
abstract: Wei and Hemmings [2000: Nat Genet 25:376-377], using 80 British parent-offspring trios, identified a number of NOTCH4 variants and haplotypes that showed statistically significant evidence of association to schizophrenia. Specifically, the 10 repeat allele of a (CTG)(n) marker and the 8 repeat allele of a (TAA)(n) marker demonstrated excess transmission to affected individuals; SNP21 and haplotypes SNP2-(CTG)(n) and SNP12-SNP2-(CTG)(n) also showed significant associations. In an attempt to replicate these findings, we tested for linkage and association between the same five markers used by Wei and Hemmings in 166 families collected from a multi-center study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Cooperative Study Program (CSP). The families include 392 affected subjects (schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, depressed) and 216 affected sibling pairs. The families represent a mix of European Americans (n = 62, 37%), African Americans (n = 60, 36%), and racially mixed or other races (n = 44, 27%). We identified moderate evidence for linkage in the pooled race sample (LOD = 1.25) and found excess transmission of the 8 (P = 0.06) and 13 (P = 0.04) repeat alleles of the (TAA)(n) marker to African American schizophrenic subjects. The 8 and 13 repeat alleles were previously identified to be positively associated with schizophrenia by Wei and Hemmings [2000: Nat Genet 25:376-377] and Sklar et al. [2001: Nat Genet 28:126-128], respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Skol
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Tsuang
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Faraone
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Haverstock
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bingham
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prabhudesai
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mena
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Menon
authors.forename: Chang-En
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rundell
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pepple
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sauter
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Keith
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boehnke
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Schellenberg
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Tsuang
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D008126:Lod Score; D008297:Male; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D000074562:Receptor, Notch4; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; C106075:NOTCH4 protein, human; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D000074562:Receptor, Notch4; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D051880:Receptors, Notch