Population-based and family-based association studies of an (AC)n dinucleotide repeat in alpha-7 nicotinic receptor subunit gene and schizophrenia.
The human alpha-7 neuronal nicotinic receptor subunit (CHRNA7) gene, located at chromosome 15q13.2, represents a strong candidate gene for schizophrenia. We have examined an (AC)n dinucleotide repeat in intron 2 of the CHRNA7 gene, which was previously shown to be strongly linked with schizophrenia, using both population-based and family-based association studies. In the population-based study, no significant differences between the genotype and allele frequency distributions in schizophrenia patients and control subjects were observed after correction for multiple testing, although a nominally significant association between the most common allele and schizophrenia was observed (P = 0.023, uncorrected for multiple testing). In the family-based study, there is no significant over-transmission (Transmitted/Non-transmitted: 61/50) of the same allele in 160 family trios. Overall, our results do not support a major role for the (AC)n dinucleotide repeat in schizophrenia susceptibility in Han Chinese. Further large-scale genetic studies based on a set of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that fully characterize the linkage disequilibrium patterns at the CHRNA7 gene are necessary to determine the relevance of this gene as a risk factor for schizophrenia susceptibility.
Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 200031, China.
Jin-Bo
JB
Fan
Jie
J
Ma
Xing-Wang
XW
Li
Chang-Shun
CS
Zhang
Wei-Wei
WW
Sun
Guang
G
He
Niu-Fan
NF
Gu
Guo-Yin
GY
Feng
David
D
St Clair
Lin
L
He
D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics; D002884:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15 / Q000235:genetics; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D018900:Dinucleotide Repeats; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D021122:Protein Subunits; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor
C579167:Chrna7 protein, human; D017931:DNA Primers; D021122:Protein Subunits; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor