title: A myelin gene causative of a catatonia-depression syndrome upon aging.
abstract: Severe mental illnesses have been linked to white matter abnormalities, documented by postmortem studies. However, cause and effect have remained difficult to distinguish. CNP (2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase) is among the oligodendrocyte/myelin-associated genes most robustly reduced on mRNA and protein level in brains of schizophrenic, bipolar or major depressive patients. This suggests that CNP reduction might be critical for a more general disease process and not restricted to a single diagnostic category. We show here that reduced expression of CNP is the primary cause of a distinct behavioural phenotype, seen only upon aging as an additional 'pro-inflammatory hit'. This phenotype is strikingly similar in Cnp heterozygous mice and patients with mental disease carrying the AA genotype at CNP SNP rs2070106. The characteristic features in both species with their partial CNP 'loss-of-function' genotype are best described as 'catatonia-depression' syndrome. As a consequence of perturbed CNP expression, mice show secondary low-grade inflammation/neurodegeneration. Analogously, in man, diffusion tensor imaging points to axonal loss in the frontal corpus callosum. To conclude, subtle white matter abnormalities inducing neurodegenerative changes can cause/amplify psychiatric diseases.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hagemeyer
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goebbels
authors.forename: Sergi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papiol
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kästner
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Begemann
authors.forename: Ulrike C
authors.initials: UC
authors.lastname: Gerwig
authors.forename: Susann
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boretius
authors.forename: Georg L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Wieser
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ronnenberg
authors.forename: Artem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gurvich
authors.forename: Stephan H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Heckers
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frahm
authors.forename: Klaus-Armin
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Nave
authors.forename: Hannelore
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ehrenreich
mesh_terms: D063309:2',3'-Cyclic Nucleotide 3'-Phosphodiesterase; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002389:Catatonia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003863:Depression / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008853:Microscopy; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging; D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics*; D011859:Radiography
chemical_list: D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; D063309:2',3'-Cyclic Nucleotide 3'-Phosphodiesterase; C571337:CNP protein, human; C571338:Cnp protein, mouse