Identification of Six novel missense single nucleotide polymorphisms in the MAOA gene predisposing to aggressive behavior. Bioinformatics study

Abstract

BackgroundAn astonishing observation is that aggressive behavior is actually a highly heritable. Recent experimental work and behavior research has linked individual variation in a functional polymorphism of the monoamine oxidase-A gene (MAOA) to the occurrence of anger-driven aggression. Aggressive antisocial and violent behavior has become a regularly debated topic in the scientific community; the impending question is what is the source of aggressive behavior, is it genetic or environmental or is it just an individual choice. This study aims to analyses the SNPs found in MAOA gene and it is possible association to aggressive behavior.MethodVarious bioinformatics software (SIFT, PolyPhen-2, PROVEAN, SNAP22, SNP&GO and PMut)is used to analyses the SNPs within the MAOA gene to study the structural and functional implication on the associated protein, which is further clarified using chimera software. Then gene-gene interaction is studied with geneMANIA software. Furthermore, conservation and annotation studies were done through the ConSurf server and Variant Effect Predictor (VEP) respectively.ResultSix missense SNPs were found to affect the structural and functional prospect of MAOA protein.ConclusionGenetic mutation within MAOA is likely to be associated with aggressive behavior; this will enrich future management and screening possibilities for this behavior.