Spontaneous Regional Brain Activity in Healthy Individuals is Nonlinearly Modulated by the Interaction of ZNF804A rs1344706 and COMT rs4680 Polymorphisms

Genetic analysis of the ZNF804A gene in Mexican patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests that schizophrenia (SCZ), schizoaffective disorder (SAD) and bipolar disorder (BPD) share genetic risk variants. ZNF804A gene has been associated with these disorders in different populations. GWAS and candidate gene studies have reported association between the rs1344706 A allele with SCZ, SAD and BPD in European and Asian populations. In Mexican patients, no studies have specifically analyzed ZNF804A gene variants with these disorders. The aim of the study was to analyze the rs1344706 and identify common and rare variants in a targeted region of the ZNF804A gene in Mexican patients with SCZ, BPD and SAD compared with a control group.

METHODS

We genotyped the rs1344706 in 228 Mexican patients diagnosed with SCZ, SAD and BPD, and 295 controls. Also, an additional sample of 167 patients with these disorders and 170 controls was analyzed to identify rare and common variants using the Sanger-sequence analysis of a targeted region of ZNF804A gene.

RESULTS

Association analysis of rs1344706 observed a higher frequency of A allele in the patients compared with the control group; however, did not show statistical differences after Bonferronís correction (χ2 = 5.3, p = 0.0208). In the sequence analysis, we did not identify rare variants; however, we identified three common variants: rs3046266, rs1366842 and rs12477430. A comparison of the three identified variants between patients and controls did not show statistical differences (p > 0.0125). Finally, haplotype analysis did not show statistical differences between SCZ, SAD and BPD and controls.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings did not support the evidence suggesting that ZNF804A gene participates in the etiology of SCZ, SAD and BPD. Future studies are needed in a larger sample size to identify the effect of this gene in psychiatric disorders.

Schizophrenia-associated variation at ZNF804A correlates with altered experience-dependent dynamics of sleep slow waves and spindles in healthy young adults

The rs1344706 polymorphism in ZNF804A is robustly associated with schizophrenia and schizophrenia is, in turn, associated with abnormal non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep neurophysiology. To examine whether rs1344706 is associated with intermediate neurophysiological traits in the absence of disease, we assessed the relationship between genotype, sleep neurophysiology, and sleep-dependent memory consolidation in healthy participants. We recruited healthy adult males with no history of psychiatric disorder from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort. Participants were homozygous for either the schizophrenia-associated 'A' allele (N = 22) or the alternative 'C' allele (N = 18) at rs1344706. Actigraphy, polysomnography (PSG) and a motor sequence task (MST) were used to characterize daily activity patterns, sleep neurophysiology and sleep-dependent memory consolidation. Average MST learning and sleep-dependent performance improvements were similar across genotype groups, albeit more variable in the AA group. During sleep after learning, CC participants showed increased slow-wave (SW) and spindle amplitudes, plus augmented coupling of SW activity across recording electrodes. SW and spindles in those with the AA genotype were insensitive to learning, whilst SW coherence decreased following MST training. Accordingly, NREM neurophysiology robustly predicted the degree of overnight motor memory consolidation in CC carriers, but not in AA carriers. We describe evidence that rs1344706 polymorphism in ZNF804A is associated with changes in the coordinated neural network activity that supports offline information processing during sleep in a healthy population. These findings highlight the utility of sleep neurophysiology in mapping the impacts of schizophrenia-associated common genetic variants on neural circuit oscillations and function.

rs1344706 polymorphism of zinc finger protein 804a (ZNF804a) gene related to the integrity of white matter fiber bundle in schizophrenics

Genetic factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia (SZ), and the zinc finger protein 804a (ZNF804a) gene has been considered to be a risk gene for schizophrenia. In the present study, the correlation between rs1344706 polymorphism of ZNF804a gene and the integrity of white matter in schizophrenic cases was explored. A total of 60 SZ patients and 100 healthy controls (HC) were included to undergo head MRI. According to the genotyping of rs1344706 in ZNF804a, the subjects in each group were divided into a normal allele and risk allele-carrying group. The imaging data were preprocessed by PANDA software, and thefractional anisotropy (FA) of each subject was calculated. With SPM8 software, age and years of education were considered as covariates, and diagnosis as well as genotype (AA, GG/AG) were considered as intergroup factors. Four groups of FA images were analyzed by two-factor analysis of variance. The FA value of the right posterior radiocrown in the patient group was lower than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant. The FA value of the right lower frontal occipital tract and the right upper radiocrown in the G allele carrier group was lower than that in the A allele homozygous group. There was detection of an interaction between the FA value of the splenium of corpus callosum, the body part of the corpus callosum and the right cingulate tract. In the present study, it was demonstrated that the rs1344706 GG/AG genotype of the ZNF804a gene locus in SZ patients suffered from abnormal structure in a specific region of the brain. This finding indicated that the rs1344706 single nucleotide polymorphism of the ZNF804a gene may affect the integrity of the white matter of the brain in SZ patients and may be involved in the pathophysiological mechanism of SZ.

Association Between ZNF804A Gene rs1344706 Polymorphism and Brain Functions in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review and Voxel-Based Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

Zinc finger protein 804A (ZNF804A) protein participates in embryonic neural repair and development. The single nucleotide polymorphism rs1344706 in ZNF804A gene is closely related to functional abnormalities of the human brain. However, these results are inconsistent. This association was verified by meta-analysis in this study.

METHODS

Fifteen studies on functional magnetic resonance imaging involving 1710 healthy individuals were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis used by Anisotropic Effect-Size Signed Differential Mapping software.

RESULTS

Functional connectivity of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC)-left hippocampus in the rs1344706 risk allele carrier was significantly increased (z = 2.066, p < 0.001), while those in the rDLPFC-left middle frontal gyrus (z = -1.420, p < 0.001) and rDLPFC-right middle frontal gyrus (z = -1.298, p < 0.001) were significantly decreased. Neural activity of the left anterior cingulate gyrus in the rs1344706 risk allele carrier was significantly decreased (z = -2.525, p < 0.001). Sensitivity analysis was almost stable, and no publication bias was found.

CONCLUSION

The changes in brain function have a clear correlation with ZNF804A gene in healthy individuals, which indicate the contribution of genetic variants on brain dysfunction.

REGISTRATION NUMBER

This meta-analysis is registered in PROSPERO (No. CRD42016051331).

Effects of COMT rs4680 and BDNF rs6265 polymorphisms on brain degree centrality in Han Chinese adults who lost their only child

Losing one's only child is a major traumatic life event that may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, not all parents who experience this trauma develop PTSD. Genetic variants are associated with the risk of developing PTSD. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) rs4680 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) rs6265 are two most well-described single-nucleotide polymorphisms that relate to stress response; however, the neural mechanism underlying their effects on adults who lost an only child remains poorly understood. Two hundred and ten Han Chinese adults who had lost their only child (55 with PTSD and 155 without PTSD) were included in this imaging genetics study. Participants were divided into subgroups according to their COMT rs4680 and BDNF rs6265 genotypes. Degree Centrality (DC)-a resting-state fMRI index reflecting the brain network communication-was compared with a three-way (PTSD diagnosis, COMT, and BDNF polymorphisms) analysis of covariance. Diagnosis state had a significant effect on DC in bilateral inferior parietal lobules and right middle frontal gyrus (MFG), where PTSD adults showed weaker DC. BDNF × diagnosis interaction effect was found in the right MFG and hippocampus, and these two regions were reversely modulated. Also, there was a significant COMT × BDNF interaction effect in left cuneus, middle temporal gyrus, right inferior occipital gyrus, and bilateral putamen, independent of PTSD diagnosis. These findings suggest that the modulatory effect of BDNF polymorphism on the MFG and hippocampus may contribute to PTSD development in bereaved adults. Interactions of COMT × BDNF polymorphisms modulate some cortices and basal ganglia, irrespective of PTSD development.