title: No evidence for association between NOTCH4 and schizophrenia in a large family-based and case-control association analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  An analysis of 80 British parent-offspring trios by Wei and Hemmings in 2000 revealed thre1e out of five markers within the NOTCH4 locus to be strongly associated with schizophrenia. In our present study, we have examined NOTCH4 markers in large samples of German and Palestinian-Arab origin.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our study population comprised a German case-control sample (n=512 schizophrenia patients and n=232 controls) and two independent parent-offspring trio samples of German (n=159 trios) and Palestinian-Arab (n=208 trios) descent. We examined a total of ten single nucleotide polymorphisms within the NOTCH4 locus and the adjacent loci, spanning a region of approximately 100 kb.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Neither single marker nor haplotype analyses showed association with schizophrenia. In addition, analyses of the German case-control and trio samples revealed no significant association between NOTCH4 polymorphisms and early-onset schizophrenia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that NOTCH4 is unlikely to play a major role in the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia in the German or the Palestinian-Arab population.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ivo
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Schulze
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schumacher
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kesper
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Ilana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kremer
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dobrusin
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mujaheed
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Murad
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blanaru
authors.forename: Isaam
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bannoura
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reshef
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bachner-Melman
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Ebstein
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Propping
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Belmaker
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rietschel
authors.forename: Markus M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Nöthen
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cichon
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D000074562:Receptor, Notch4; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000235:genetics*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C106075:NOTCH4 protein, human; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D000074562:Receptor, Notch4; D051880:Receptors, Notch