Schizophrenia: Molecular Genetics

Michael J Owen, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK

Published online: July 2006

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0005160

Molecular genetic studies of schizophrenia have used both linkage and association approaches. Both types of study have resulted in conflicting findings, and unequivocal evidence for linkage or association is as yet lacking. However, systematic linkage studies have revealed several chromosomal areas of potential interest, and candidate gene association studies have suggested that variation within the HTR2A and DRD3 genes might confer susceptibility.

Keywords: schizophrenia; linkage; association; HTR2A; DRD3

 References
    Bunzel R, Blumcke I, Cichon S, et al. (1998) Polymorphic imprinting of the serotonin-2A (5-HT2A) receptor gene in human adult brain. Molecular Brain Research 59: 90–92.
    Crocq MA, Mant R, Asherson P, et al. (1992) Association between schizophrenia and homozygosity at the dopamine D3 receptor gene. Journal of Medical Genetics 29: 858–860.
    McGue M and Gottesman II (1989) A single dominant gene still cannot account for the transmission of schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 46: 478–479.
    Risch N (1990) Linkage strategies for genetically complex traits. 2. The power of affected relative pairs. American Journal of Human Genetics 46: 229–241.
    Sherrington R, Brynjolfsson J, Petursson H, et al. (1998) Localization of a susceptibility locus for schizophrenia on chromosome-5. Nature 336: 164–167.
    Spurlock G, Heils A, Holmans P, et al. (1998) A family based association study of T102C polymorphism in 5HT2A and schizophrenia plus identification of new polymorphisms in the promoter. Molecular Psychiatry 3: 42–49.
    Williams J, McGuffin P, Nothen M and Owen MJ (1997) The EMASS Collaborative Group meta-analysis of association between the 5-HT2a receptor T102C polymorphism and schizophrenia. Lancet 349: 1221.
    Williams J, Spurlock G, Holmans P and Mant R (1998) A meta-analysis and transmission disequilibrium study of association between the dopamine D3 receptor gene and schizophrenia. Molecular Psychiatry 3: 141–149.
    Williams J, Spurlock G, McGuffin P and Mallet J (1996) Association between schizophrenia and T102C polymorphism of the 5-hydroxytryptamine type 2A-receptor gene. Lancet 347: 1294–1296.
    Williams NM, Rees MI, Holmans P and Norton N (1999) A two-stage genome scan for schizophrenia susceptibility genes in 196 affected sibling pairs. Human Molecular Genetics 8: 1729–1739.
 Further Reading
    Baron M (2001) Genetics of schizophrenia and the new millennium: progress and pitfalls. American Journal of Human Genetics 68: 299–312.
    book Gottesman II (1991) Schizophrenia Genesis: The Origins of Madness.. New York, NY: WH Freeman.
    McGuffin P, Owen MJ and Farmer AE (1995) Genetic basis of schizophrenia. Lancet 346: 678–682.
    O'Donovan MC and Owen MJ (1999) Candidate gene association studies of schizophrenia. American Journal of Human Genetics 65: 587–592.
    Owen MJ, Cardno AG and O'Donovan MC (2000) Psychiatric genetics: back to the future. Molecular Psychiatry 5: 22–31.
    book Owen MJ and O'Donovan MC (2002) "Schizophrenia". In: Plomin R, De Fries JC, Craig IC and McGuffin P (eds.) Behavioral Genetics in a Postgenomics World. Washington DC: APA Books.
    Sherrington R, Rogaev EI, Liang Y, et al. (1995) Cloning of a gene bearing missense mutations in early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease. Nature 375: 754–760.
 Web Links
    ePath 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 2A (HTR2A); MIM number: 182135. OMIM: http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Omim/dispmim?182135
    ePath Dopamine receptor D3 (DRD3); MIM number: 126451; OMIM: http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Omim/dispmim?126451
    ePath 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 2A (HTR2A); Locus ID: 3356; LocusLink: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/LocusLink/LocRpt.cgi?l=3356
    ePath Dopamine receptor D3 (DRD3); Locus ID: 1814; LocusLink: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/LocusLink/LocRpt.cgi?l=1814

Related Sub-Topics:

Neurobiology of Disease | Molecular Genetics of Common and Complex Disease | Genetics of Intelligence and Cognition | Linkage Analysis | Gene Mapping by Disease Association
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Article Title: Schizophrenia: Molecular Genetics
 
How to Cite close
Owen, Michael J(Jul 2006) Schizophrenia: Molecular Genetics. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0005160]