title: Association of the neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor 3 (NTRK3) gene and childhood-onset mood disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Genome scans have revealed significant evidence for linkage of depression to chromosome 15q25.3-q26.2. The gene for neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor 3 (NTRK3), the receptor for neurotrophin-3 (trkC) and a key gene in neurotrophin signaling, is located within this region and, given evidence for synaptic plasticity as a mechanism in mood disorders, was considered a prime candidate. The authors investigated NTRK3 as a susceptibility gene for childhood-onset mood disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study sample consisted of 603 families with 723 affected children and adolescents diagnosed with a mood disorder with onset of the first episode by age 15. The authors genotyped 18 polymorphic markers across the NTRK3 gene in this sample and tested for association.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results identified significant evidence for association for five of the markers using the transmission disequilibrium test. Four of the five markers were located in a region of strong linkage disequilibrium and were highly correlated. Haplotype results provided significant evidence for association to haplotypes composed of markers located in two haplotype blocks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results for NTRK3 as well as the authors' previous finding for association to brain-derived neurotrophic factor in this sample support synaptic plasticity as a mechanism contributing to mood disorders that begin during childhood and adolescence and specifically implicate the NTRK3 gene as a contributing factor in the 15q-linked region.
authors.affiliation: Toronto Western Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5T 2S8.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vetró
authors.forename: Eniko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.forename: Krisztina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kapornai
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Daróczi
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: Zsuzsanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tamás
authors.forename: Ildikó
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baji
authors.forename: Júlia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gádoros
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wigg
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kovacs
authors.forename: Cathy L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Barr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002884:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15 / Q000235:genetics; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium / Q000235:genetics; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D020812:Receptor, trkC / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D020812:Receptor, trkC