New analyses provide supportive evidence for specific genes related to bipolar disorder

Abstract

A recent article by Franklin and Dwyer 1 analyzes genes identified in two previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of bipolar disorder. 2,3 They establish that the 230 genes identified in the two studies are evolutionarily conserved (in C elegans and zebrafish but not in drosophila) that they contain regions of homology and are highly interactive, and that some of them are clustered in syntenic groupings on chromosomes in humans and zebrafish. The findings are not dissimilar to previous findings with positional candidate genes in schizophrenia by Dwyer and colleagues. 4 These findings are reassuring for those studying the genetics of psychiatric disorders and following the progress of GWAS in those disorders. It must be said that psychiatric genetics went through a long fallow period during which findings were not reliable or not How to cite this article: Nurnberger JI. New analyses provide supportive evidence for specific genes related to bipolar disorder.

Evolutionary conservation of putative suicidality-related risk genes that produce diminished motivation corrected by clozapine, lithium and antidepressants

“…The PSRGs showed more extensive gene interactions with other members of the list compared with gene interactions among randomly-selected genes ( Supplementary Figure 1 ). These findings support the contention that these genes are valid risk factors for STBs ( 36 ).…”

“…Moreover, suicide risk genes may be more highly connected in gene-gene interaction networks than similar-sized lists of randomly-selected genes. This is important because a high level of network connectivity among putative risk genes may confirm their relevance to a psychiatric disorder ( 36 ).…”

Evolutionary conservation of suicide risk genes that produce a diminished motivation phenotype corrected by clozapine, lithium and antidepressants

“…1d), which comports with previous studies of psychiatric disorder risk genes. These ndings support the contention that the genes are valid risk factors for STBs [37].…”

“…Suicide risk genes may be more interactive because they are evolutionarilyconserved, which means a longer residence time in the genome, with the potential for more extensive integration into networks [36]. This observation has previously been cited as providing additional validation for the authenticity of risk genes for bipolar disorder [37].…”

“…Moreover, the suicide risk genes may be more highly connected in gene-gene interaction networks than similar-sized lists of randomly-selected genes. This is important because a high level of network connectivity among putative risk genes may con rm their relevance to a psychiatric disorder [37].…”