Functional Impact of An ADHD-Associated DIRAS2 Promoter Polymorphism.

The DIRAS2 gene is coding for a small Ras GTPase with so far unknown function. In a previous study, we described the association of DIRAS2 rs1412005, as well as a haplotype containing this polymorphism and located in the promoter region of this gene with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the present study, we searched for rare variants within or near the DIRAS2 gene that might be associated with ADHD using next-generation sequencing. As we were not able to detect any rare variants associated with the disease, we sought to establish a functional role of DIRAS2 rs1412005 on the molecular or systems level. First, we investigated whether it has an influence on gene expression by means of a luciferase-based promoter assay. We could demonstrate that the minor risk allele goes along with the increased expression of the reporter gene. Next, we aimed to identify differences in response inhibition between risk-allele and non-risk allele carriers in children suffering from ADHD and healthy control individuals by analyzing event-related potentials in the electroencephalogram during a Go/NoGo task. Risk-allele carriers showed a changed NoGo anteriorization. Therefore, our results suggest an impact of the investigated polymorphism on the prefrontal response control in children with ADHD. These results imply that the promoter polymorphism is indeed the associated as well as in itself a causal variant. Further research is thus warranted to clarify the mechanisms linking DIRAS2 to ADHD.

A polymorphism in the Crhr1 gene determines stress vulnerability in male mice.

Chronic stress is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders but does not necessarily lead to uniform long-term effects on mental health, suggesting modulating factors such as genetic predispositions. Here we address the question whether natural genetic variations in the mouse CRH receptor 1 (Crhr1) locus modulate the effects of adolescent chronic social stress (ACSS) on long-term stress hormone dysregulation in outbred CD1 mice, which allows a better understanding of the currently reported genes × environment interactions of early trauma and CRHR1 in humans. We identified 2 main haplotype variants in the mouse Crhr1 locus that modulate the long-term effects of ACSS on basal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. This effect is likely mediated by higher levels of CRHR1, because Crhr1 mRNA expression and CRHR1 binding were enhanced in risk haplotype carriers. Furthermore, a CRHR1 receptor antagonist normalized these long-term effects. Deep sequencing of the Crhr1 locus in CD1 mice revealed a large number of linked single-nucleotide polymorphisms with some located in important regulatory regions, similar to the location of human CRHR1 variants implicated in modulating gene × stress exposure interactions. Our data support that the described gene × stress exposure interaction in this animal model is based on naturally occurring genetic variations in the Crhr1 gene associated with enhanced CRHR1-mediated signaling. Our results suggest that patients with a specific genetic predisposition in the CRHR1 gene together with an exposure to chronic stress may benefit from a treatment selectively antagonizing CRHR1 hyperactivity.

Genetic variants in the genes of the stress hormone signalling pathway and depressive symptoms during and after pregnancy.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes of the stress hormone signaling pathway, specifically FKBP5, NR3C1, and CRHR1, are associated with depressive symptoms during and after pregnancy. METHODS: The Franconian Maternal Health Evaluation Study (FRAMES) recruited healthy pregnant women prospectively for the assessment of maternal and fetal health including the assessment of depressiveness. The German version of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was completed at three time points in this prospective cohort study. Visit 1 was at study entry in the third trimester of the pregnancy, visit 2 was shortly after birth, and visit 3 was 6-8 months after birth. Germline DNA was collected from 361 pregnant women. Nine SNPs in the above mentioned genes were genotyped. After construction of haplotypes for each gene, a multifactorial linear mixed model was performed to analyse the depression values over time. RESULTS: EPDS values were within expected ranges and comparable to previously published studies. Neither did the depression scores differ for comparisons among haplotypes at fixed time points nor did the change over time differ among haplotypes for the examined genes. No haplotype showed significant associations with depressive symptoms severity during pregnancy or the postpartum period. CONCLUSION: The analysed candidate haplotypes in FKBP5, NR3C1, and CRHR1 did not show an association with depression scores as assessed by EPDS in this cohort of healthy unselected pregnant women.

Gender-specific association of variants in the AKR1C1 gene with dimensional anxiety in patients with panic disorder: additional evidence for the importance of neurosteroids in anxiety?

BACKGROUND: Neurosteroids are synthesized both in brain and peripheral steroidogenic tissue from cholesterol or steroidal precursors. Neurosteroids have been shown to be implicated in neural proliferation, differentiation, and activity. Preclinical and clinical studies also suggest a modulatory role of neurosteroids in anxiety-related phenotypes. However, little is known about the contribution of genetic variants in genes relevant for the neurosteroidogenesis to anxiety disorders. METHODS: We performed an association analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in five genes related to the neurosteroidal pathway with emphasis on progesterone and allopregnanolone biosynthesis (steroid-5-alpha-reductase 1A (SRD5A1), aldo-keto reductase family 1 C1-C3 (AKR1C1-AKR1C3) and translocator protein 18 kDA (TSPO) with panic disorder (PD) and dimensional anxiety in two German PD samples (cases N = 522, controls N = 1,115). RESULTS: Case-control analysis for PD and SNPs in the five selected genes was negative in the combined sample. However, we detected a significant association of anticipatory anxiety with two intronic SNPs (rs3930965, rs41314625) located in the gene AKR1C1 surviving correction for multiple testing in PD patients. Stratification analysis for gender revealed a female-specific effect of the associations of both SNPs. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a modulatory effect of AKR1C1 activity on anxiety levels, most likely through changes in progesterone and allopregnanolone levels within and outside the brain. In summary, this is the first evidence for the gender-specific implication of the AKR1C1 gene in the expression of anticipatory anxiety in PD. Further analyses to unravel the functional role of the SNPs detected here and replication analyses are needed to validate our results.

Functional coding variants in SLC6A15, a possible risk gene for major depression.

SLC6A15 is a neuron-specific neutral amino acid transporter that belongs to the solute carrier 6 gene family. This gene family is responsible for presynaptic re-uptake of the majority of neurotransmitters. Convergent data from human studies, animal models and pharmacological investigations suggest a possible role of SLC6A15 in major depressive disorder. In this work, we explored potential functional variants in this gene that could influence the activity of the amino acid transporter and thus downstream neuronal function and possibly the risk for stress-related psychiatric disorders. DNA from 400 depressed patients and 400 controls was screened for genetic variants using a pooled targeted re-sequencing approach. Results were verified by individual re-genotyping and validated non-synonymous coding variants were tested in an independent sample (N = 1934). Nine variants altering the amino acid sequence were then assessed for their functional effects by measuring SLC6A15 transporter activity in a cellular uptake assay. In total, we identified 405 genetic variants, including twelve non-synonymous variants. While none of the non-synonymous coding variants showed significant differences in case-control associations, two rare non-synonymous variants were associated with a significantly increased maximal (3)H proline uptake as compared to the wildtype sequence. Our data suggest that genetic variants in the SLC6A15 locus change the activity of the amino acid transporter and might thus influence its neuronal function and the risk for stress-related psychiatric disorders. As statistically significant association for rare variants might only be achieved in extremely large samples (N >70,000) functional exploration may shed light on putatively disease-relevant variants.

Detecting rare variants for psychiatric disorders using next generation sequencing: a methods primer.

Recent advances in massively parallel sequencing (MPS) have had an extensive impact on research in medical genomics. In particular, the analysis of rare variants using MPS promises to lead to a better understanding of complex disorders. Nevertheless, for meaningful studies that address the genetic basis for neuropsychiatric disorders, at least hundreds of patient samples have to be analyzed. This undertaking is still not feasible for single research groups on a whole-genome scale and in individual samples. Thus, researchers increasingly employ strategies for reducing the amount of sequencing efforts, such as target enrichment and non-barcoded sample pooling. This review provides an overview of current technologies, discusses options for reduced experimental designs, and illustrates the successful application of the presented methodologies in a recent study of panic disorder patients. Thereby, it aims to introduce the emerging field of MPS into neuropsychiatric research and might serve as a guide for further studies.

Rare variants in TMEM132D in a case-control sample for panic disorder.

Genome-wide association studies have identified common variants associated with common diseases. Most variants, however, explain only a small proportion of the estimated heritability, suggesting that rare variants might contribute to a larger extent to common diseases than assumed to date. Here, we use next-generation sequencing to test whether such variants contribute to the risk for anxiety disorders by re-sequencing 40 kb including all exons of the TMEM132D locus which we have previously shown to be associated with panic disorder and anxiety severity measures. DNA from 300 patients suffering from anxiety disorders, mostly panic disorder (84.7%), and 300 healthy controls was screened for the presence of genetic variants using next-generation re-sequencing in a pooled approach. Results were verified by individual re-genotyping. We identified 371 variants of which 247 had not been reported before, including 15 novel non-synonymous variants. The majority, 76% of these variants had a minor allele frequency less than 5%. While we did not identify additional common variants in TMEM132D associated with panic disorders, we observed an overrepresentation of presumably functional coding variants in healthy controls as compared to cases as well as a higher rate of private coding variants in cases, with one non-synonymous coding variant present in four patients but not in any of the matched controls nor in over 5,500 individuals of different ethnic origins from publicly available re-sequencing datasets. Our data suggest that not only common but also putatively functional and/or rare variants within TMEM132D might contribute to the risk to develop anxiety disorders.

The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism modulates the influence on environmental stressors on peripartum depression symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Maternal depression during the peripartum period has an incidence of about 13%. Individuals with specific genetic predispositions are more vulnerable to stressful life events suggesting that exploration of gene-environmental pathways might facilitate the identification of risk factors for peripartum depression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of stressful life events in combination with the serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR polymorphism on peripartum depressive symptoms. METHODS: In a non-psychiatric cohort of 419 Caucasians, the severity of depression was assessed prospectively during pregnancy (3rd trimester) and the postpartum period (2-3 days and 6-8 months) using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Satisfaction with the partner and exposure to negative life events were evaluated using self-report questionnaires and the genotype of the 5-HTTLPR was assessed. Repeated measures generalized linear models were used to investigate the gene-environment interaction on depressive symptoms across late pregnancy and the postpartum period. RESULTS: The 5-HTTLPR S-allele carrier status predicted late postpartum depressive symptom severity only in the presence of negative life events. This interaction was not observed for depressive symptoms during the 3rd trimester or the early postpartum. In addition, S-allele carrier status increased the negative effects of dissatisfaction with the current partner on depressive symptoms in the late postpartum period. CONCLUSIONS: In this non-psychiatric cohort, the 5-HTTLPR interacts with both lifetime and current stressors to influence depressive symptoms in the late post partum period. These findings could have clinical implications by allowing identification of women at higher risk for developing postpartum depressive symptoms.

vipR: variant identification in pooled DNA using R.

MOTIVATION: High-throughput-sequencing (HTS) technologies are the method of choice for screening the human genome for rare sequence variants causing susceptibility to complex diseases. Unfortunately, preparation of samples for a large number of individuals is still very cost- and labor intensive. Thus, recently, screens for rare sequence variants were carried out in samples of pooled DNA, in which equimolar amounts of DNA from multiple individuals are mixed prior to sequencing with HTS. The resulting sequence data, however, poses a bioinformatics challenge: the discrimination of sequencing errors from real sequence variants present at a low frequency in the DNA pool. RESULTS: Our method vipR uses data from multiple DNA pools in order to compensate for differences in sequencing error rates along the sequenced region. More precisely, instead of aiming at discriminating sequence variants from sequencing errors, vipR identifies sequence positions that exhibit significantly different minor allele frequencies in at least two DNA pools using the Skellam distribution. The performance of vipR was compared with three other models on data from a targeted resequencing study of the TMEM132D locus in 600 individuals distributed over four DNA pools. Performance of the methods was computed on SNPs that were also genotyped individually using a MALDI-TOF technique. On a set of 82 sequence variants, vipR achieved an average sensitivity of 0.80 at an average specificity of 0.92, thus outperforming the reference methods by at least 0.17 in specificity at comparable sensitivity. AVAILABILITY: The code of vipR is freely available via: http://sourceforge.net/projects/htsvipr/ CONTACT: altmann@mpipsykl.mpg.de.