Next Article in Journal
Magnetofection Enhances Lentiviral-Mediated Transduction of Airway Epithelial Cells through Extracellular and Cellular Barriers
Next Article in Special Issue
The Future is The Past: Methylation QTLs in Schizophrenia
Previous Article in Journal
Endocrine Dysfunction in Female FMR1 Premutation Carriers: Characteristics and Association with Ill Health
Previous Article in Special Issue
Replicated Risk Nicotinic Cholinergic Receptor Genes for Nicotine Dependence
 
 
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Screening for Mutations in the TBX1 Gene on Chromosome 22q11.2 in Schizophrenia

1
Department of Psychiatry, Yuli Branch, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Hualien 98142, Taiwan
2
Center for General Education, St. Mary’s Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Yilan County 26644, Taiwan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Submission received: 22 September 2016 / Revised: 14 November 2016 / Accepted: 16 November 2016 / Published: 22 November 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Mechanism of Psychiatric Disorders)

Abstract

:
A higher-than-expected frequency of schizophrenia in patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome suggests that chromosome 22q11.2 harbors the responsive genes related to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The TBX1 gene, which maps to the region on chromosome 22q11.2, plays a vital role in neuronal functions. Haploinsufficiency of the TBX1 gene is associated with schizophrenia endophenotype. This study aimed to investigate whether the TBX1 gene is associated with schizophrenia. We searched for mutations in the TBX1 gene in 652 patients with schizophrenia and 567 control subjects using a re-sequencing method and conducted a reporter gene assay. We identified six SNPs and 25 rare mutations with no association with schizophrenia from Taiwan. Notably, we identified two rare schizophrenia-specific mutations (c.-123G>C and c.-11delC) located at 5′ UTR of the TBX1 gene. The reporter gene assay showed that c.-123C significantly decreased promoter activity, while c.-11delC increased promoter activity compared with the wild-type. Our findings suggest that the TBX1 gene is unlikely a major susceptible gene for schizophrenia in an ethnic Chinese population for Taiwan, but a few rare mutations in the TBX1 gene may contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia in some patients.

1. Introduction

Schizophrenia is a severe chronic mental illness characterized by abnormal perceptions, thought disturbances, bizarre behaviors, and impaired cognitive function [1]. This disease affects approximately 1% of the general population worldwide. The etiology and pathogenesis of schizophrenia are still unclear today. Many researchers have found a higher-than-expected frequency of 22q11.2 deletions in patients with schizophrenia, suggesting that chromosome 22q11.2 harbors the responsive genes for the pathophysiology of schizophrenia [2,3,4].
22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS), also known as DiGeorge syndrome or velocardiofacial syndrome, is a disease caused by an interstitial microdeletion on chromosome 22 with an incidence between 1:4000 and 1:6000 live birth [5,6]. The clinical characteristic of 22q11.2DS, which is complex and variable, include craniofacial and cardiovascular anomalies, immunodeficiency, short stature, and hypocalcemia [6]. There is substantial epidemiological evidence that 22q11.2DS is characterized by a greatly increased risk for schizophrenia [7,8,9,10]. Moreover, genomic evaluation of copy number variation has established that 22q11.2 deletion of strong effect increases risk for schizophrenia [4,11,12]. These studies have highlighted that the 22q11.2 region harbors genes causally implicated in schizophrenia in a subset of patients.
The TBX1 gene, encoding a member of the transcription factors that share a common DNA-binding domain known as the T-box [13,14], lies within the 22q11.2 region and is a major candidate gene for 22q11.2DS [14,15,16,17,18]. The TBX1 gene was conserved across several species and was expressed in the human brain [19,20]. Mutations and haploinsufficiency of the TBX1 gene are sufficient to cause reduced prepulse inhibition, a behavioral abnormality that is associated with schizophrenia endophenotype [21,22]. Loss of the TBX1 gene disrupts cortical development [23] and global brain vascular defect [24] in mice. Congenic TBX1 heterozygous mice displayed the autism-related behavioral phenotypes [25,26]. There are overlapping symptoms between autism and schizophrenia, which may suggest that these two diseases share some common biological basis in their pathogenesis [27]. Therefore, it is plausible that the deletion or disruption of the TBX1 gene may alter the expression of genes required for proper development and function of neuronal circuits in the central nerve system, and eventually lead to the formation of schizophrenia.
It is assumed that the genetic underpinning of schizophrenia can be attributed to the juncture of multiple common variants with low penetrance [28,29]. Conversely, there is an increasing appreciation that schizophrenia can be associated with rare mutations with high clinical penetrance in some patients [30,31]. Here, we aimed to examine whether there are common or rare genetic variants of the TBX1 gene associated with schizophrenia. To test this possibility, we systemically searched for genetic variants in all the exons of the TBX1 gene in a sample of patients with schizophrenia and control subjects from Taiwan and conducted a reporter gene activity assay to characterize genetic variants located at 5′ UTR of the TBX1 gene.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Subjects

Patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia defined by the four version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were recruited into this study. The diagnosis of schizophrenia was based on a clinical interview and review of medical records by senior psychiatrists with consensus. Exclusion criteria include psychosis due to general medical condition, substance-related psychosis, and mood disorder with psychotic features. Control subjects were recruited from a medical center’s Department of Family Medicine located in Eastern Taiwan. All subjects were Han Chinese from Taiwan. The study was approved by the Institution Review Board, and written informed consent was obtained after the procedures were fully explained. We recruited 652 patients with schizophrenia and 567 age- and sex-matched non-psychotic subjects as the control. Genomic DNA was prepared from peripheral blood cells according to standard protocols.

2.2. Nomenclature and Reference Sequences

We acquired the gene information of the TBX1 gene from NCBI (http://www.nhri.nlm.nih.gov) and UCSC database (http://genome.ucsc.edu/index.html). The nomenclature of these sequence variations follows the “Nomenclature for description of human sequence variations” [32]. The GenBank accession numbers of the reference sequences for the three isoforms of the TBX1 gene used in this study are NM_080646.1, NM_005992.1, and NM_080647.1

2.3. PCR-Based Sequencing

Optimal PCR primer sequences were generated to each exon of the TBX1 gene using Primer3 website (http://bioinfo.ut.ee/primer3-0.4.0/primer3/). Primer sequences, optimal annealing temperatures, and size of each amplicon are available on request. Genomic DNA (75 ng) was amplified in a reaction volume of 15 µL containing 0.5 µM each of forward and reverse primer, 0.2 mM of dNTP, 50 mM of KCl, 1.5 mM of MgCl2, 0.1% vol/vol of Triton X-100, 10 mM of Tris-HCl (pH 9.0 at 25 °C), and 2.5 U PowerTAQ DNA polymerase (GeneTek BioScience Inc., Taipei, Taiwan). PCR cycling conditions consisted of an initial denaturation at 95 °C for 1 min, the optimal annealing temperature of each amplicon for 1 min, and 72 °C for 1 min. After PCR amplification, aliquots of PCR products were processed using an IllustraTM ExoProStarTM 1-Step Kit (GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences Corp., NJ, USA) to remove residual primers and dNTPs following the manufacturer’s protocol. The purified PCR products were sequencing using an ABI Prism™ BigDye™ Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit (version 3.1) and an ABI autosequencer 3730 (Perkin Elmer Applied Biosystem, Foster City, CA, USA) according to the manufacturer’s protocol. Repeat PCR and sequencing verified all variants in both directions.

2.4. In Silico Analysis

The potential functional consequences of missense mutations were predicted using the PolyPhen-2 (http://genetics.bwh.harvard.edu/pph2/), the PMut (http://mmb.pcb.ub.es/PMut/), and SIFT (http://sift.jcvi.org/). The alteration of putative transcription factor binding sites by the 5′ UTR variants of the TBX1 gene was evaluated using PROMO (http://alggen.lsi.upc.es/cgi-bin/promo_v3/promo/promoinit.cgi?dirDB=TF_8.3).

2.5. Reporter Gene Activity Assay

Genomic DNA from the subjects were used for constructing the inserts for the reporter gene activity assay. For functional characterization of c.-123C, c.-120T, sense primer (5′-CAGACCCTGCGACCCCTA-3′) and antisense primer (5′-AGTGTTCCTCCCTCCTCAC-3′) were used to obtain amplicon containing identified genetic variants. For functional characterization of c.-84A, c.-11delC, sense primer (5′-GTTCAGCATCGCCTCTCTG-3′) and antisense primer (5′-CAAGAGCTGCCTCCACCTAC-3′) were used to obtain amplicon containing identified genetic variants. The PCR fragments were cloned into pCR-II-TOPO vector (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA) then subcloned into the pGL3-basic vector (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) using HindIII and XhoI recognition sites, and the authenticity of each construct was verified by sequencing. SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells were cultured in 96-well plates at 3000 cells per well in MEM supplemented with 1 mM sodium pyruvate, 0.1 mM non-essential amino acids, penicillin-streptomycin (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA), and 10% fetal bovine serum. The cells were cotransfected with 200 ng of reporter plasmid and 10 ng of pRL-TK (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) as an internal control reporter using 0.5 µL of the LipofectamineTM 2000 (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA), and six replicates were performed for each treatment. At 30 h after transfection, cells were lysed and the luciferase activities were measured using the Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Promega, Madison, WI, USA). The firefly luciferase activity was normalized against the Renilla luciferase activity in each transfection.

2.6. Statistical Analysis

Deviation from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium of the genotype distribution in both the patient and control groups was examined with the chi-square test. Differences in allele, genotype, and estimated haplotype frequencies between patients and controls were evaluated using an online computer platform SHEsis (http://analysis.bio-x.cn/myAnalysis.php). A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The differences in the frequency of rare mutations between patient and control groups were assessed using Fisher’s exact test with a significance level at 0.05 (two-tailed).

3. Results

3.1. Genetic Analysis of the TBX1 Gene

The human TBX1 gene has three isoforms that share exons 1–8 but differ in the terminal exons 9A, 9B/10, and 9C and comprises twelve exons that span approximately 27 kb on chromosome 22q11.21. The genomic structure of the TBX1 gene is illustrated in Figure 1. We identified a total of 31 genetic variants of the TBX1 gene in patients with schizophrenia and control subjects, including six common SNPs (rs737868, rs41298814, rs2301558, rs72646967, rs4819522, and rs5746826) with minor allele frequency (MAF) above 5% and 25 rare mutations with MAF below 5%. Six common SNPs were selected for genetic association analysis. The genotype and allele frequencies of these six SNPs are listed in Table 1. There is no significant deviation of these common SNPs from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in either patient or control group except for rs72646967. However, there are no significant differences in the genotype or allele frequency of these common SNPs between patients with schizophrenia and control subjects (Table 1).
Twenty-five rare variants include 7 missense variants (p.Asp151Glu, p.Asp155Asn, p.Glu257Ala, p.Arg342Gln, pVal359Ala, p.Ala393Thr, and p.Arg396His) and 13 variants (c.-123G>C, c.-120G>T, c.-84G>A, c.-11delC, c.*13C>T, c.*108G>C, c.*165_166insG, c.*315C>T, c.*399G>A, c.*398-406delTGTAGATAC, c.*24C>A, c.*123G>A, and c.*170C>T) located at the untranslated region (Table 2). Among these 25 rare variants, 11 (c.-123G>C, c.-11delC, p.Asp151Glu, p.Glu257Ala, p.Arg342Gln, pAla353= , p.Pro398=, c.*315C>T, p.Arg396His, c.*123G>A, and c.*170C>T) were detected in schizophrenic patients only, while 9 (c.-120G>T, c.-84G>A, p.Asp155Asn, p.Ala256=, p.Thr271=, c.*13C>T, c.*108G>C, c.*399G>A, and p.Val359Ala) were detected in control subjects only. Five mutations (c.*164_*165insG, c.*398-406delTGTAGATAC, p.Ala393Thr, p.Asp395=, and c.*24C>A) were detected in both patients and control subjects. There is no increasing burden of these rare variants in the patient group as compared to the control group (39/652 cases versus 36/567 controls, p = 0.80). The functional impact of the missense mutations was assessed by the amino acid analysis programs Polyphen-2, PMut, and SIFT to identify those deemed to be possibly or probably deleterious to protein function (Table 2). The bioinformatic analysis predicts that the c.-123G>C may disrupt transcription factor binding sites of AP-2 and LVc, and the c.-120G>T may disrupt transcription factor binding sites of AP-2 only.

3.2. Reporter Gene Activity Assay

We performed a reporter gene activity assay to assess the potential regulatory impact of four variants (c.-123G>C, c.-120G>T, c.-84G>A, and c.-11delC) on the expression of the TBX1 gene. The mutant c.-123G>C appeared to significantly decrease promoter activity compared with the wild type in the SK-N-SH cells, while two mutants (c.-84G>A and c.-11delC) appeared to significantly increase promoter activity (Table 3).

3.3. Clinical Findings of the Patients with Rare Mutations

The patient carrying the c.-123G>C mutation was a 50-year-old lady who has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia since the age of 20. Her mother was also a victim of schizophrenia; otherwise, no other family members (including five other siblings) had a diagnosis of mental illness. She was born at full term, and the developmental history was unremarkable. After she graduated from college, she gradually developed auditory-hallucination disturbance, derailed speech, the delusion of self-reference, and deterioration of occupational and social functions. She denied any history of illicit drugs or alcohol misuse, head injury, central nervous system (CNS) infection, or epilepsy. Although she responded well to the antipsychotic medication, she only showed fair drug adherence such that her psychotic symptoms occasionally relapsed. As a result, she was hospitalized to psychiatric wards several times. Both her social and occupational functions deteriorated progressively throughout the years; currently, she is admitted to a chronic nursing unit with the existence of residual psychotic symptoms.
The patient carrying the c.-11delC mutation was a 51-year-old woman who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia since the age of 20. One of his paternal aunts was also a victim of psychosis, but the diagnosis was uncertain. Both her birth and developmental history were insignificant. At present, she occasionally showed mood irritability, auditory-hallucination disturbance, tangentiality in speech, and the ideation of persecution, which moderately impaired her occupational and social functions. She denied any history of illicit drugs or alcohol misuse, head injury, CNS infection, or epilepsy. Both her social and vocational functions deteriorated progressively throughout the years; currently, she is admitted to a chronic nursing unit with the existence of residual psychotic symptoms.

4. Discussion

In this study, we resequenced the TBX1 gene in patients with schizophrenia and control subjects from Taiwan and discovered six common SNPs, and further analysis showed no association of the SNPs with schizophrenia, in line with results from the other genetic association studies [33,34].
In addition to common SNPs, we identified 25 rare mutations of the TBX1 gene in this sample. However, no increasing burden of rare mutations was found in the patient group, suggesting rare mutations of the TBX1 gene occurred equally in both patients with schizophrenia and control groups. However, Paylor et al. identified a 23 bp frameshift deletion of the TBX1 gene, which may disrupt the central domain of a highly conserved nuclear localization signal of the wild-type TBX1 protein from one family member with Asperger syndrome [21]. A report links mutation in the TBX1 gene to developmental delay [35]. In our study, we identified two schizophrenia-specific variants (c.-123G>C and c.-11delC) with abnormal promoter activity, suggesting that abnormal TBX1 gene expression may contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia in some patients. Taken together, these studies suggest that the TBX1 gene is likely a common susceptible gene among several mental disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, and mental retardation.
In sillico analysis predicts that the mutant c.-123G>C disrupts transcription factor binding sites of AP-2 and LVc. We suggested that a possible regulatory function of pathological mutations in 5′ UTR of the TBX1 gene modulates gene expression via trans-acting genetic modifiers. In addition, we identified two schizophrenia-specific missense mutations (p.Asp151Glu and p.Glu257Ala) located within the T-box domain. The T-box domain, which is highly conserved in all T-box proteins, is responsible for DNA binding and is likely essential for dimerization of the TBX1 protein. We assumed that these two missense mutations are likely to impair DNA binding activity of the TBX1 protein, but further functional analyses are needed to verify our speculation. As some of the mutations in the control group were predicted to have a damaging effect on the TBX protein, it is likely that the penetrance and clinical manifestation of mutations might be modified by other genetic or environmental factors [3,36].
This study had the following limitations. Firstly, the effect of all of the reported mutations on TBX1 protein function is still unknown, and the identification of functional domains is an important subject for future research. Secondly, schizophrenia is a heterogeneity disorder, and additional risk factors and other genes in the chromosome 22q11.2 deleted region may also contribute to illness progression. Lastly, we also found several mutations in the control group owing to the incomplete penetrance of the 22q11.2DS phenotypes. Thus, the finding of a normal carrier does not necessarily exclude a disease-causative role for the mutation.

5. Conclusions

This study suggests that the common genetic variants of the TBX1 gene may not play a major role in conferring susceptibility to schizophrenia. Nevertheless, some rare mutations in the TBX1 gene with a possible damaging effect may be present in some patients.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from Yuli Branch, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan (VHYL-101-04 and VHYL-101-08), and the Ministry of Science and Technology, R.O.C. (MOST104-2314-B480-001-MY3).

Author Contributions

Min-Chih Cheng conceived and designed the experiments. Lieh-Yung Ping and Yang-An Chuang helped recruit and evaluate the patients. Yang-An Chuang, Shih-Hsin Hsu, and Hsin-Yao Tsai performed the experiments. Min-Chih Cheng analyzed the data and wrote the paper. All authors reviewed the article and approved its publication.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

References

  1. Freedman, R. Schizophrenia. N. Engl. J. Med. 2003, 349, 1738–1749. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  2. Malhotra, D.; Sebat, J. Cnvs: Harbingers of a rare variant revolution in psychiatric genetics. Cell 2012, 148, 1223–1241. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  3. Hiroi, N.; Takahashi, T.; Hishimoto, A.; Izumi, T.; Boku, S.; Hiramoto, T. Copy number variation at 22q11.2: From rare variants to common mechanisms of developmental neuropsychiatric disorders. Mol. Psychiatry 2013, 18, 1153–1165. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  4. Szatkiewicz, J.P.; O’Dushlaine, C.; Chen, G.; Chambert, K.; Moran, J.L.; Neale, B.M.; Fromer, M.; Ruderfer, D.; Akterin, S.; Bergen, S.E.; et al. Copy number variation in schizophrenia in sweden. Mol. Psychiatry 2014, 19, 762–773. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  5. Botto, L.D.; May, K.; Fernhoff, P.M.; Correa, A.; Coleman, K.; Rasmussen, S.A.; Merritt, R.K.; O’Leary, L.A.; Wong, L.-Y.; Elixson, E.M.; et al. A population-based study of the 22q11.2 deletion: Phenotype, incidence, and contribution to major birth defects in the population. Pediatrics 2003, 112, 101–107. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  6. Kobrynski, L.J.; Sullivan, K.E. Velocardiofacial syndrome, digeorge syndrome: The chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndromes. Lancet 2007, 370, 1443–1452. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  7. Gothelf, D.; Feinstein, C.; Thompson, T.; Gu, E.; Penniman, L.; van Stone, E.; Kwon, H.; Eliez, S.; Reiss, A.L. Risk factors for the emergence of psychotic disorders in adolescents with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Am. J. Psychiatry 2007, 164, 663–669. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  8. Murphy, K.C.; Jones, L.A.; Owen, M.J. High rates of schizophrenia in adults with velo-cardio-facial syndrome. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 1999, 56, 940–945. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  9. Schneider, M.; Debbane, M.; Bassett, A.S.; Chow, E.W.; Fung, W.L.; van den Bree, M.; Owen, M.; Murphy, K.C.; Niarchou, M.; Kates, W.R.; et al. Psychiatric disorders from childhood to adulthood in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: Results from the international consortium on brain and behavior in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Am. J. Psychiatry 2014, 171, 627–639. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  10. Monks, S.; Niarchou, M.; Davies, A.R.; Walters, J.T.; Williams, N.; Owen, M.J.; van den Bree, M.B.; Murphy, K.C. Further evidence for high rates of schizophrenia in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Schizophr. Res. 2014, 153, 231–236. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  11. Grozeva, D.; Conrad, D.F.; Barnes, C.P.; Hurles, M.; Owen, M.J.; O’Donovan, M.C.; Craddock, N.; Kirov, G. Independent estimation of the frequency of rare cnvs in the uk population confirms their role in schizophrenia. Schizophr. Res. 2012, 135, 1–7. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  12. Christofolini, D.M.; Bellucco, F.T.; Ota, V.K.; Belangero, S.I.; Cernach, M.C.P.; Gadelha, A.; Mari, J.; Bressan, R.A.; Smith, M.A.C.; Melaragno, M.I. Assessment of 22q11.2 copy number variations in a sample of brazilian schizophrenia patients. Schizophr. Res. 2011, 132, 99–100. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  13. Sinha, S.; Abraham, S.; Gronostajski, R.M.; Campbell, C.E. Differential DNA binding and transcription modulation by three t-box proteins, T, TBX1 and TBX2. Gene 2000, 258, 15–29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  14. Chieffo, C.; Garvey, N.; Gong, W.; Roe, B.; Zhang, G.; Silver, L.; Emanuel, B.S.; Budarf, M.L. Isolation and characterization of a gene from the digeorge chromosomal region homologous to the mouse TBX1 gene. Genomics 1997, 43, 267–277. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  15. Yagi, H.; Furutani, Y.; Hamada, H.; Sasaki, T.; Asakawa, S.; Minoshima, S.; Ichida, F.; Joo, K.; Kimura, M.; Imamura, S.-I.; et al. Role of TBX1 in human del22q11.2 syndrome. Lancet 2003, 362, 1366–1373. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  16. Jerome, L.A.; Papaioannou, V.E. Digeorge syndrome phenotype in mice mutant for the T-box gene, TBX1. Nat. Genet. 2001, 27, 286–291. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  17. Lindsay, E.A.; Vitelli, F.; Su, H.; Morishima, M.; Huynh, T.; Pramparo, T.; Jurecic, V.; Ogunrinu, G.; Sutherland, H.F.; Scambler, P.J.; et al. TBX1 haploinsufficiency in the digeorge syndrome region causes aortic arch defects in mice. Nature 2001, 410, 97–101. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  18. Merscher, S.; Funke, B.; Epstein, J.A.; Heyer, J.; Puech, A.; Lu, M.M.; Xavier, R.J.; Demay, M.B.; Russell, R.G.; Factor, S.; et al. TBX1 is responsible for cardiovascular defects in velo-cardio-facial/digeorge syndrome. Cell 2001, 104, 619–629. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  19. Guna, A.; Butcher, N.J.; Bassett, A.S. Comparative mapping of the 22q11.2 deletion region and the potential of simple model organisms. J. Neurodev. Disord. 2015, 7. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  20. Maynard, T.M.; Haskell, G.T.; Peters, A.Z.; Sikich, L.; Lieberman, J.A.; LaMantia, A.-S. A comprehensive analysis of 22q11 gene expression in the developing and adult brain. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2003, 100, 14433–14438. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  21. Paylor, R.; Glaser, B.; Mupo, A.; Ataliotis, P.; Spencer, C.; Sobotka, A.; Sparks, C.; Choi, C.-H.; Oghalai, J.; Curran, S.; et al. TBX1 haploinsufficiency is linked to behavioral disorders in mice and humans: Implications for 22q11 deletion syndrome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2006, 103, 7729–7734. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  22. Hiroi, N.; Zhu, H.; Lee, M.; Funke, B.; Arai, M.; Itokawa, M.; Kucherlapati, R.; Morrow, B.; Sawamura, T.; Agatsuma, S. A 200-kb region of human chromosome 22q11.2 confers antipsychotic-responsive behavioral abnormalities in mice. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2005, 102, 19132–19137. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  23. Flore, G.; Cioffi, S.; Bilio, M.; Illingworth, E. Cortical development requires mesodermal expression of TBX1, a gene haploinsufficient in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Cereb. Cortex 2016. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  24. Cioffi, S.; Martucciello, S.; Fulcoli, F.G.; Bilio, M.; Ferrentino, R.; Nusco, E.; Illingworth, E. TBX1 regulates brain vascularization. Hum. Mol. Genet. 2014, 23, 78–89. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  25. Hiramoto, T.; Kang, G.; Suzuki, G.; Satoh, Y.; Kucherlapati, R.; Watanabe, Y.; Hiroi, N. TBX1: Identification of a 22q11.2 gene as a risk factor for autism spectrum disorder in a mouse model. Hum. Mol. Genet. 2011, 20, 4775–4785. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  26. Takahashi, T.; Okabe, S.; Broin, P.O.; Nishi, A.; Ye, K.; Beckert, M.V.; Izumi, T.; Machida, A.; Kang, G.; Abe, S.; et al. Structure and function of neonatal social communication in a genetic mouse model of autism. Mol. Psychiatry 2016, 21, 1208–1214. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  27. Goldstein, G.; Minshew, N.J.; Allen, D.N.; Seaton, B.E. High-functioning autism and schizophrenia: A comparison of an early and late onset neurodevelopmental disorder. Arch. Clin. Neuropsychol. 2002, 17, 461–475. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  28. Cichon, S.; Craddock, N.; Daly, M.; Faraone, S.V.; Gejman, P.V.; Kelsoe, J.; Lehner, T.; Levinson, D.F.; Moran, A.; Sklar, P.; et al. Genomewide association studies: History, rationale, and prospects for psychiatric disorders. Am. J. Psychiatry 2009, 166, 540–556. [Google Scholar] [PubMed]
  29. Craddock, N.; O’Donovan, M.C.; Owen, M.J. Phenotypic and genetic complexity of psychosis. Invited commentary on ... Schizophrenia: A common disease caused by multiple rare alleles. Br. J. Psychiatry 2007, 190, 200–203. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  30. Kenny, E.M.; Cormican, P.; Furlong, S.; Heron, E.; Kenny, G.; Fahey, C.; Kelleher, E.; Ennis, S.; Tropea, D.; Anney, R.; et al. Excess of rare novel loss-of-function variants in synaptic genes in schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. Mol. Psychiatry 2014, 19, 872–879. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  31. McClellan, J.M.; Susser, E.; King, M.-C. Schizophrenia: A common disease caused by multiple rare alleles. Br. J. Psychiatry 2007, 190, 194–199. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  32. Den Dunnen, J.T.; Antonarakis, S.E. Mutation nomenclature. Curr. Protoc. Hum. Genet. 2003. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  33. Funke, B.H.; Lencz, T.; Finn, C.T.; DeRosse, P.; Poznik, G.D.; Plocik, A.M.; Kane, J.; Rogus, J.; Malhotra, A.K.; Kucherlapati, R. Analysis of TBX1 variation in patients with psychotic and affective disorders. Mol. Med. 2007, 13, 407–414. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  34. Ma, G.; Shi, Y.; Tang, W.; He, Z.; Huang, K.; Li, Z.; He, G.; Feng, G.; Li, H.; He, L. An association study between the genetic polymorphisms within TBX1 and schizophrenia in the chinese population. Neurosci. Lett. 2007, 425, 146–150. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  35. Ogata, T.; Niihori, T.; Tanaka, N.; Kawai, M.; Nagashima, T.; Funayama, R.; Nakayama, K.; Nakashima, S.; Kato, F.; Fukami, M.; et al. TBX1 mutation identified by exome sequencing in a japanese family with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome-like craniofacial features and hypocalcemia. PLoS ONE 2014, 9, e91598. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  36. Girirajan, S.; Rosenfeld, J.A.; Cooper, G.M.; Antonacci, F.; Siswara, P.; Itsara, A.; Vives, L.; Walsh, T.; McCarthy, S.E.; Baker, C.; et al. A recurrent 16p12.1 microdeletion supports a two-hit model for severe developmental delay. Nat. Genet. 2010, 42, 203–209. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Figure 1. The schematic genomic structure of the TBX1 gene and locations of molecular variants analyzed in this study. The black box indicates the protein-coding region; the white box indicates the untranslated region.
Figure 1. The schematic genomic structure of the TBX1 gene and locations of molecular variants analyzed in this study. The black box indicates the protein-coding region; the white box indicates the untranslated region.
Genes 07 00102 g001
Table 1. Genotype and allele frequencies of molecular variants of the TBX1 gene in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and control subjects (Ctrl).
Table 1. Genotype and allele frequencies of molecular variants of the TBX1 gene in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and control subjects (Ctrl).
VariantGroupnGenotypeHWEpAllelep
c.-85G>C (rs737868) G/GG/CC/C 0.60GC0.46
SZ564105(18.6%)269(47.7%)190(33.7%)0.57 479(42.5%)649(57.5%)
Ctrl54689(16.3%)269(49.3%)188(34.4%)0.66 447(40.9%)645(59.1%)
p.Phe140= (rs41298814) T/TT/CC/C 0.40TC0.20
SZ594161(27.1%)293(49.3%)140(23.6%)0.77 615(51.8%)573(48.2%)
Ctrl567166(29.3%)285(50.3%)116(20.4%)0.75 617(54.4%)517(45.6%)
p.Leu222= (rs2301558) C/CC/TT/T 0.48CT0.77
SZ518397(76.6%)114(22.0%)7(1.4%)0.71 908(87.6%)128(12.4%)
Ctrl536419(78.2%)106(19.8%)11(2.0%)0.17 944(88.1%)128(11.9%)
p.Asn397His (rs72646967) A/AA/CC/C 0.20AC0.07
SZ529151(28.5%)238(45.0%)140(26.5%)0.02 540(51.0%)518(49.0%)
Ctrl524167(31.9%)242(46.2%)115(22.0%)0.12 476(55.0%)472(45.0%)
p.Thr350Met (rs4819522) C/CC/TT/T 0.78CT0.64
SZ653502(76.9%)138(21.1%)13(0.2%)0.34 1142(87.4%)164(12.6%)
Ctrl545423(77.6%)114(20.9%)8(1.5%)0.92 960(88.1%)130(11.9%)
c.*121G>T (rs5746826) G/GG/TT/T 0.38GT0.16
SZ650110(16.9%)306(47.1%)234(36.0%)0.56 526(40.5%)774(59.5%)
Ctrl544107(19.7%)257(47.2%)180(33.1%)0.38 471(43.3%)617(56.7%)
HWE = Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium.
Table 2. Distributions and bioinformatics analyses of rare mutations in the TBX1 gene identified in this study.
Table 2. Distributions and bioinformatics analyses of rare mutations in the TBX1 gene identified in this study.
Variant
(TBX1 Isoform)
RS NumberFrequencyAmino Acid ChangeIn Silico Analysis
SZCtrlTranscription Factor aPmutPolyPhen-2SIFT
c.-123G>C (isoform C)None 1/6380/534N/AWild-type: AP-2, LVcN/AN/AN/A
c.-120G>T (isoform C)None0/6371/534N/AWild-type: AP-2N/AN/AN/A
c.-84G>A (isoform C)None0/5641/546N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.-11delC (isoform C)rs788333621/5650/546N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.453T>A (isoform C)rs7780419601/5940/567p.Asp151GluN/ANeutralBenignDeleterious
c.463G>A (isoform C)rs3740112930/5943/567p.Asp155AsnN/ANeutralPossibly damaging Deleterious
c.768C>T (isoform C)rs7592253330/5531/548p.Ala256=N/A N/AN/A
c.770A>C (isoform C)None1/5530/548p.Glu257AlaN/ANeutralBenignDeleterious
c.813C>T (isoform C)rs617302820/4491/548p.Thr271=N/A N/AN/A
c.1025G>A (isoform C)rs5497157852/5350/515p.Arg342GlnN/APathologicalBenignDeleterious
c.1059A>G (isoform C)rs130543771/4260/528pAla353=N/AN/AN/AN/A
c.1194C>A (isoform C)None1/5310/400p.Pro398=N/AN/AN/AN/A
c.*13C>T (isoform C)rs5433782120/4892/525N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.*108G>C (isoform C)None0/5001/525N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.*164_*165insG (isoform C)rs4129884210/50010/534N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.*315C>T (isoform C)None1/4880/535N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.*399G>A (isoform C)None0/4873/534N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.*398-406 delTGTAGATAC (isoform C)None1/4881/534N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.1076T>C (isoform A)rs2003613670/5431/544p.Val359AlaN/APathologicalPossibly damagingTolerated
c.1177G>A (isoform A)None1/6521/544p.Ala393ThrN/ANeutralBenignDeleterious
c.1185C>T (isoform A)None3/6521/544p.Asp395=N/AN/AN/AN/A
c.1187G>A (isoform A)rs2074779051/5420/544p.Arg396HisN/ANeutralBenignDeleterious
c.*24C>A (isoform A)rs4129800812/5429/544N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.*123G>A (isoform A)None1/6500/544N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
c.*170C>T (isoform B)None1/5880/326N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
a Transcription factors predicted by PROMO; SZ = schizophrenia; Ctrl = control; N/A = not available.
Table 3. Reporter gene activity assay of rare mutations the TBX1 gene.
Table 3. Reporter gene activity assay of rare mutations the TBX1 gene.
MutationFluc/Rluc (n = 6)p Value
Wild-type36.96 ± 3.92
c.-123C18.19 ± 2.39<0.01 *
c.-120T36.17 ± 3.64=0.72
pGL3-Enhancer12.83 ± 2.00
Wild-type18.02 ± 1.70
c.-84A43.90 ± 4.21<0.01 *
c.-11delC52.39 ± 8.76<0.01 *
pGL3-Enhancer18.50 ± 3.73
Fluc/Rluc indicates the luciferase activity normalized by Renilla activity; p-value shows the significance of the difference between mutant and wild type (two-tailed t-test). * p < 0.05.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Ping, L.-Y.; Chuang, Y.-A.; Hsu, S.-H.; Tsai, H.-Y.; Cheng, M.-C. Screening for Mutations in the TBX1 Gene on Chromosome 22q11.2 in Schizophrenia. Genes 2016, 7, 102. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/genes7110102

AMA Style

Ping L-Y, Chuang Y-A, Hsu S-H, Tsai H-Y, Cheng M-C. Screening for Mutations in the TBX1 Gene on Chromosome 22q11.2 in Schizophrenia. Genes. 2016; 7(11):102. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/genes7110102

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ping, Lieh-Yung, Yang-An Chuang, Shih-Hsin Hsu, Hsin-Yao Tsai, and Min-Chih Cheng. 2016. "Screening for Mutations in the TBX1 Gene on Chromosome 22q11.2 in Schizophrenia" Genes 7, no. 11: 102. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/genes7110102

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop