title: PCSK6 VNTR Polymorphism Is Associated with Degree of Handedness but Not Direction of Handedness.
abstract: Although the left and right human cerebral hemispheres differ both functionally and anatomically, the mechanisms that underlie the establishment of these hemispheric specializations, as well as their physiological and behavioral implications, remain largely unknown. Since cerebral asymmetry is strongly correlated with handedness, and handedness is assumed to be influenced by a number of genetic and environmental factors, we performed an association study of LRRTM1 rs6733871 and a number of polymorphisms in PCSK6 and different aspects of handedness assessed with the Edinburgh handedness inventory in a sample of unrelated healthy adults (n = 1113). An intronic 33bp variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in PCSK6 (rs10523972) shows a significant association (significance threshold: p<0.0025, adjusted for multiple comparisons) with a handedness category comparison (P = 0.0005) and degree of handedness (P = 0.001). These results provide further evidence for the role of PCSK6 as candidate for involvement in the biological mechanisms that underlie the establishment of normal brain lateralization and thus handedness and support the assumption that the degree of handedness, instead the direction, may be the more appropriate indicator of cerebral organization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Larissa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arning
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ocklenburg
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ness
authors.forename: Wanda M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Gerding
authors.forename: Jan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Hengstler
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falkenstein
authors.forename: Jörg T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Epplen
authors.forename: Onur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Güntürkün
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beste
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D060005:Genotyping Techniques; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D043484:Proprotein Convertases / Q000235:genetics*; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C526971:LRRTM1 protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C080654:PCSK6 protein, human; D043484:Proprotein Convertases; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases