Amirthagowri Ambalavanan

Methylation of BDNF in women with bulimic eating syndromes: Associations with childhood abuse and borderline personality disorder

DNA methylation allows for the environmental regulation of gene expression and is believed to link environmental stressors to such mental-illness phenotypes as eating disorders. Numerous studies have shown an association between bulimia nervosa (BN) and variations in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF has also been linked to borderline personality disorder (BPD) and to such traits as reward dependence. We examined the extent to which BDNF methylation corresponded to bulimic or normal-eater status, and also to the presence of comorbid borderline personality disorder (BPD) and childhood abuse. Our sample consisted of 64 women with BN and 32 normal-eater (NE) control women. Participants were assessed for eating-disorder symptoms, comorbid psychopathology, and childhood trauma, and then they were required to provide blood samples for methylation analyses. We observed a significant site×group (BN vs. NE) interaction indicating that women with BN showed increases in methylation at specific regions of the BDNF promoter. Furthermore, examining effects of childhood abuse and BPD, we observed significant site×group interactions such that groups composed of individuals with childhood abuse or BPD had particularly high levels of methylation at selected CpG sites. Our findings suggest that BN, especially when co-occurring with childhood abuse or BPD, is associated with a propensity towards elevated methylation at specific BDNF promoter region sites. These findings imply that hypermethylation of the BDNF gene may be related to eating disorder status, developmental stress exposure, and comorbid psychopathology.

GBA p.T369M substitution in Parkinson disease: Polymorphism or association? A meta-analysis

The lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GCase), encoded by GBA, has an important role in Parkinson disease (PD). GBA mutation carriers have an increased risk for PD, earlier age at onset, faster progression, and various nonmotor symptoms including cognitive decline, REM sleep behavior disorder, hyposmia, and autonomic dysfunction.1 Furthermore, GCase enzymatic activity is reduced in the peripheral blood2 and brain3 of noncarrier, sporadic PD patients. Biallelic GBA mutations, which have been classified as “severe” or “mild,” may cause Gaucher disease (GD), a lysosomal storage disorder. Mild mutations may lead to GD type 1, and 2 severe mutations result in neuronopathic GD (type 2 and type 3).4 There are 2 GBA variants, p.E326K and p.T369M, which do not cause GD in homozygous carriers, but may modify GCase activity and GD phenotype. It is now clear that p.E326K is a risk factor for PD,5 but whether p.T369M is associated with PD is still controversial. In some studies, the p.T369M substitution was associated with PD,6 while in others it had similar or increased frequency in controls. Of interest, it was recently demonstrated that the GBA p.T369M substitution was associated with reduced enzymatic activity in patients with PD and controls compared with that in noncarriers (7.64 vs 11.93 μmol/L/h, p < 0.001).2 Of interest, it was even lower than the average enzymatic activity of the p.E326K substitution, which was 9.81 μmol/L/h. Because clinical trials on GBA-associated PD are ongoing, and because treatment specifically targeting GBA is likely to be available in the future, it is important to determine whether the GBA p.T369M substitution is associated with PD.

De novo variants in sporadic cases of childhood onset schizophrenia

Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS), defined by the onset of illness before age 13 years, is a rare severe neurodevelopmental disorder of unknown etiology. Recently, sequencing studies have identified rare, potentially causative de novo variants in sporadic cases of adult-onset schizophrenia and autism. In this study, we performed exome sequencing of 17 COS trios in order to test whether de novo variants could contribute to this disease. We identified 20 de novo variants in 17 COS probands, which is consistent with the de novo mutation rate reported in the adult form of the disease. Interestingly, the missense de novo variants in COS have a high likelihood for pathogenicity and were enriched for genes that are less tolerant to variants. Among the genes found disrupted in our study, SEZ6, RYR2, GPR153, GTF2IRD1, TTBK1 and ITGA6 have been previously linked to neuronal function or to psychiatric disorders, and thus may be considered as COS candidate genes.

Analysis of functional GLO1 variants in the BTBD9 locus and restless legs syndrome

BACKGROUND Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common disorder, with several known genetic risk factors, yet the actual genetic causes are unclear. METHODS Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed in seven RLS families, focusing on six known genetic loci: MEIS1, BTBD9, PTPRD, MAP2K5/SKOR1, TOX3, and rs6747972. Genotyping using specific TaqMan assays was performed in two case-control cohorts (627 patients and 410 controls), and in a familial cohort (n = 718). RESULTS WES identified two candidate GLO1 variants (within the BTBD9 locus), p.E111A and the promoter variant c.-7C>T, both co-segregated with the disease in four families. The GLO1 p.E111A variant was associated with RLS in the French-Canadian cohort (odds ratio, OR = 1.38, p = 0.02), and demonstrated a similar trend in the US cohort (OR = 1.26, p = 0.09, combined analysis OR = 1.28, p = 0.009). However, the original genome-wide association study (GWAS) marker, BTBD9 rs9357271, had stronger association with RLS (OR = 1.84, p = 0.0003). Conditional haplotype analysis, controlling for the effect of the BTBD9 variant rs9357271, demonstrated that the association of GLO1 p.E111A turned insignificant (p = 0.54). In the familial cohort, the two GLO1 variants were not associated with RLS. Other variants in the SKOR1 (p.W200R and p.A672V) and PTPRD (p.R995C, p.Q447E, p.T781A, p.Q447E, and c.551-4C > G) genes, did not co-segregate with the disease. CONCLUSIONS The GLO1 variations studied here are not the source of association of the BTBD9 locus with RLS. It is likely that the genetic variants affecting RLS susceptibility are located in regulatory regions.

Investigation of rare variants in LRP1, KPNA1, ALS2CL and ZNF480 genes in schizophrenia patients reflects genetic heterogeneity of the disease

BackgroundSchizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disease characterized by a high heritability and a complex genetic architecture. Recent reports based on exome sequencing analyses have highlighted a significant increase of potentially deleterious de novo mutations in different genes in individuals with schizophrenia.FindingsThis report presents the mutation screening results of four candidate genes for which such de novo mutations were previously reported (LRP1, KPNA1, ALS2CL and ZNF480). We have not identified any excess of rare variants in the additional SCZ cases we have screened.ConclusionsThis supports the notion that de novo mutations in these four genes are extremely rare in schizophrenia and further highlights the high degree of genetic heterogeneity of this disease.

Increased Missense Mutation Burden of Fatty Acid Metabolism Related Genes in Nunavik Inuit Population

Background Nunavik Inuit (northern Quebec, Canada) reside along the arctic coastline where for generations their daily energy intake has mainly been derived from animal fat. Given this particular diet it has been hypothesized that natural selection would lead to population specific allele frequency differences and unique variants in genes related to fatty acid metabolism. A group of genes, namely CPT1A, CPT1B, CPT1C, CPT2, CRAT and CROT, encode for three carnitine acyltransferases that are important for the oxidation of fatty acids, a critical step in their metabolism. Methods Exome sequencing and SNP array genotyping were used to examine the genetic variations in the six genes encoding for the carnitine acyltransferases in 113 Nunavik Inuit individuals. Results Altogether ten missense variants were found in genes CPT1A, CPT1B, CPT1C, CPT2 and CRAT, including three novel variants and one Inuit specific variant CPT1A p.P479L (rs80356779). The latter has the highest frequency (0.955) compared to other Inuit populations. We found that by comparison to Asians or Europeans, the Nunavik Inuit have an increased mutation burden in CPT1A, CPT2 and CRAT; there is also a high level of population differentiation based on carnitine acyltransferase gene variations between Nunavik Inuit and Asians. Conclusion The increased number and frequency of deleterious variants in these fatty acid metabolism genes in Nunavik Inuit may be the result of genetic adaptation to their diet and/or the extremely cold climate. In addition, the identification of these variants may help to understand some of the specific health risks of Nunavik Inuit.

Identification of genetic variants of LGI1 and RTN4R (NgR1) linked to schizophrenia that are defective in NgR1-LGI1 signaling.

The protein NgR1 is encoded by RTN4R, a gene linked to schizophrenia. We previously reported NgR1 as receptor for the epilepsy‐linked protein LGI1. NgR1 regulates synapse number and synaptic plasticity, whereas LGI1 antagonizes NgR1 signaling and promotes synapse formation. Impairments in synapse formation are common in neurological disease and we hypothesized that an LGI1–NgR1 signaling pathway may contribute to the development of schizophrenia.

Genome-wide association analysis identifies new candidate risk loci for familial intracranial aneurysm in the French-Canadian population

Intracranial Aneurysm (IA) is a common disease with a worldwide prevalence of 1–3%. In the French-Canadian (FC) population, where there is an important founder effect, the incidence of IA is higher and is frequently seen in families. In this study, we genotyped a cohort of 257 mostly familial FC IA patients and 1,992 FC controls using the Illumina NeuroX SNP-chip. The most strongly associated loci were tested in 34 Inuit IA families and in 32 FC IA patients and 106 FC controls that had been exome sequenced (WES). After imputation, one locus at 3p14.2 (FHIT, rs1554600, p = 4.66 × 10–9) reached a genome-wide significant level of association and a subsequent validation in Nunavik Inuit cohort further confirmed the significance of the FHIT variant association (rs780365, FBAT-O, p = 0.002839). Additionally, among the other promising loci (p < 5 × 10−6), the one at 3q13.2 (rs78125721, p = 4.77 × 10−7), which encompasses CCDC80, also showed an increased mutation burden in the WES data (CCDC80, SKAT-O, p = 0.0005). In this study, we identified two new potential IA loci in the FC population: FHIT, which is significantly associated with hypertensive IA, and CCDC80, which has potential genetic and functional relevance to IA pathogenesis, providing evidence on the additional risk loci for familial IA. We also replicated the previous IA GWAS risk locus 18q11.2, and suggested a potential locus at 8p23.1 that warrants further study.

Paternal Age Explains a Major Portion of De Novo Germline Mutation Rate Variability in Healthy Individuals

De novo mutations (DNM) are an important source of rare variants and are increasingly being linked to the development of many diseases. Recently, the paternal age effect has been the focus of a number of studies that attempt to explain the observation that increasing paternal age increases the risk for a number of diseases. Using disease-free familial quartets we show that there is a strong positive correlation between paternal age and germline DNM in healthy subjects. We also observed that germline CNVs do not follow the same trend, suggesting a different mechanism. Finally, we observed that DNM were not evenly distributed across the genome, which adds support to the existence of DNM hotspots.

Teneurin transmembrane protein 4 is not a cause for essential tremor in a Canadian population

Mutations in teneurin transmembrane protein 4 were reported to be a risk factor for essential tremor, but the relevance of this across different population remains to be examined. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and spectrum of variations in teneurin transmembrane protein 4 in a cohort of Canadian essential tremor cases.