Rare copy number variants in neuropsychiatric disorders: Specific phenotype or not?
From a number of genome-wide association studies it was shown that de novo and/or rare copy number variants (CNVs) are found at an increased frequency in neuropsychiatric diseases. In this study we examined the prevalence of CNVs in six genomic regions (1q21.1, 2p16.3, 3q29, 15q11.2, 15q13.3, and 16p11.2) previously implicated in neuropsychiatric diseases. Hereto, a cohort of four neuropsychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and intellectual disability) and control individuals from three different populations was used in combination with Multilpex Amplicon Quantifiaction (MAQ) assays, capable of high resolution (kb range) and custom-tailored CNV detection. Our results confirm the etiological candidacy of the six selected CNV regions for neuropsychiatric diseases. It is possible that CNVs in these regions can result in disturbed brain development and in this way lead to an increased susceptibility for different neuropsychiatric disorders, dependent on additional genetic and environmental factors. Our results also suggest that the neurodevelopmental component is larger in the etiology of schizophrenia and intellectual disability than in mood disorders. Finally, our data suggest that deletions are in general more pathogenic than duplications. Given the high frequency of the examined CNVs (1-2%) in patients of different neuropsychiatric disorders, screening of large cohorts with an affordable and feasible method like the MAQ assays used in this study is likely to result in important progress in unraveling the genetic factors leading to an increased susceptibility for several psychiatric disorders.
Applied Molecular Genomics Group, Department of Molecular Genetics, VIB, Antwerp, Belgium.
Maarten J
MJ
Van Den Bossche
Mandy
M
Johnstone
Mojca
M
Strazisar
Benjamin S
BS
Pickard
Dirk
D
Goossens
An-Sofie
AS
Lenaerts
Sonia
S
De Zutter
Annelie
A
Nordin
Karl-Fredrik
KF
Norrback
Julien
J
Mendlewicz
Daniel
D
Souery
Peter
P
De Rijk
Bernard G
BG
Sabbe
Rolf
R
Adolfsson
Douglas
D
Blackwood
Jurgen
J
Del-Favero
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000235:genetics; D015331:Cohort Studies; D056915:DNA Copy Number Variations; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype