title: Hypomethylation of FAM63B in bipolar disorder patients.
abstract: Bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ) are known to share common genetic and psychosocial risk factors. A recent epigenome-wide association study performed on blood samples from SZ patients found significant hypomethylation of FAM63B in exon 9. Here, we used iPLEX-based methylation analysis to investigate two CpG sites in FAM63B in blood samples from 459 BD cases and 268 controls. Both sites were significantly hypomethylated in BD cases (lowest p value = 3.94 × 10(-8)). The methylation levels at the two sites were correlated, and no strong correlation was found with nearby single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), suggesting that methylation differences at these sites are not readably picked up by genome-wide association studies. Overall, FAM63B hypomethylation was found in BD patients, thus replicating the initial finding in SZ patients. This study suggests that FAM63B is a shared epigenetic risk gene for the two disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Alle 4, DK- 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ; The Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark ; Center for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Starnawska
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Alle 4, DK- 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ; The Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark ; Center for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ditte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Demontis
authors.affiliation: Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Division of Psychiatry, Rockefeller Building, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McQuillin
authors.affiliation: Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Division of Psychiatry, Rockefeller Building, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Niamh L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Alle 4, DK- 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ; The Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark ; Center for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark ; Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov, Denmark.
authors.forename: Nicklas H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Staunstrup
authors.affiliation: The Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark ; Psychosis Research Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mors
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Alle 4, DK- 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ; The Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark ; Center for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anders L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Alle 4, DK- 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ; The Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark ; Center for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anders D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Børglum
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Alle 4, DK- 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ; The Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, Aarhus, Denmark ; Center for Integrative Sequencing, iSEQ, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nyegaard
mesh_terms: D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000235:genetics*; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005091:Exons; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; C000612883:MINDY2 protein, human; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase
keywords: Bipolar disorder; Candidate gene; DNA methylation; Epigenetics; FAM63B; Mental disorder; iPLEX