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DNA Degradation in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

1 March 2012. Neurons from individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder harbor genomic copy number differences that are circuit- and diagnosis-specific, according to a study published online February 6 in Archives of General Psychiatry. Led by Francine Benes of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, the study suggests that abnormal losses or gains of DNA segments can accumulate in mature neurons, leading to their malfunction.

The findings provide a first glimpse of the state of the DNA within neurons in these disorders, and suggest that some malleability is present. Recent genetic studies have offered up copy number variants (CNVs)—deletions or duplications of DNA segments—as potential causal factors for psychiatric disease (see SRF related news story; see SRF related news story). However, the copy number changes identified by Benes and colleagues are proposed to lie downstream of causal factors, arising instead in fully mature neurons later in life and possibly driving the specific brain dysfunction found in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

“Now we may have a basis for understanding dysfunction in terms of genomic integrity,” Benes told SRF. “When we see the amount of genomic integrity that has been changed, the critical question may be, How much dysfunction is that really related to?”

There's something about GAD67
One consistent marker of altered brain function found in postmortem brain samples from people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder has been the decreased expression of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD67), an enzyme that produces γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). This has led to various lines of research on possible GABAergic dysfunction in schizophrenia (see SRF related news story). Trying to understand why there should be such a deficit in GAD67, Benes and colleagues published a gene expression profiling study in 2007 in which they turned up a network of genes involved in GAD67 regulation, as well as neurogenesis, cell cycle, and DNA repair (see SRF related news story). Though these last processes are more appreciated in proliferating cells, they may also be critical for protecting the genome in a fully mature neuron—an idea that casts the postmitotic, differentiated neuron as a state that is actively maintained, rather than a static endstage.

The new study asked whether any telltale signs of genomic degradation could be found in the brain, and whether they were associated with a particular diagnosis and cell type. The researchers focused on the stratum oriens of the hippocampus, which contains exclusively GABAergic cells and exhibits the GAD67 deficits in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Building on previous work showing distinct patterns of gene expression in these cells, depending on whether they were in the CA3/2 or CA1 region of the hippocampus (see SRF related news story), the team compared copy number measures across these circuits, as well as across diagnoses.

Copy number intensities
First author Guoqing Sheng and colleagues used laser microdissection to excise the stratum oriens from CA3/2 and CA1 in postmortem brain samples from 15 individuals with schizophrenia, 15 with bipolar disorder, and 15 controls. The DNA from these samples was probed with a single nucleotide polymorphism microarray, which can reveal changes in copy number of DNA segments by changes in signal intensity. The researchers did a targeted search for these irregularities, analyzing only those SNPs tagging the 28 previously identified as belonging to a GAD67 regulatory network.

In CA3/2, the researchers detected a decrease in copy number intensity of the GAD67 gene in schizophrenia samples, suggesting some loss of that gene. Specifically, the mean copy number intensity was 1.68 in schizophrenia, compared to 2.16 in controls—a difference amounting to a 22 percent decrease. In bipolar disorder, a 25 percent decrease was measured. In CA1, the story was somewhat similar, with a 27 percent decrease in schizophrenia compared to controls, but no significant decrease for bipolar disorder.

Looking across all 28 genes, CA3/2 emerged as a hotspot of genomic degradation: in schizophrenia samples, 15 of the 28 genes showed significant differences in copy number intensities compared to controls, and in bipolar samples, 18 out of 28 genes showed this. In contrast, in CA1, only 10 out of 28 genes showed significant changes in schizophrenia, and only three out of 28 in bipolar samples.

These patterns differed between disorders. Among the genes specifically involved in GAD67 regulation, the researchers pinpointed copy number intensity changes in five genes (HDAC11, DAXX, PAX5, RUNX2, and CCND2) that were similar in magnitude and direction to those reported in their gene expression profile study in 2007. In CA3/2, schizophrenia samples had a marked increase in HDAC11, a histone deacetylase involved in epigenetic regulation, and DAXX, a transcription regulator, whereas bipolar samples did not. Conversely, bipolar samples exhibited decreases in copy number intensity for RUNX2, a transcription factor involved in cell differentiation, and CCND2, a crucial cyclin that regulates the cell cycle, whereas schizophrenia samples showed no change in these compared to controls. These results suggest that the decrease in GAD67 expression shared by schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may be brought about by distinct molecular mechanisms.

Copy number differences were also detected in CA3/2 among neurogenesis-related genes, including an increase in intensity in growth factor-encoding VEGF and a decrease in NRG1 in schizophrenia, and increases for both in bipolar samples. Among cell cycle and DNA repair genes, a copy number reduction in transcription factor E2F3 was detected in schizophrenia, and increases in a DNA repair enzyme MBD4 emerged for both schizophrenia and bipolar; these kinds of changes were not so apparent in CA1.

Local context matters
Asking whether these genomic irregularities were associated with gene expression, the team found robust correlations between copy number intensity and corresponding mRNA levels obtained in their previous study. Within CA3/2, significant positive correlations were found for schizophrenia (r = 0.649, p = 0.0003) and bipolar disorder (r = 0.772, p = 0.0002). However, no correlations were found within CA1, which the authors propose may be due to local environment influences on transcriptional regulation (see SRF related news story). Differences in local circuitry may also explain why CA3/2 is a hotspot for genomic degradation compared to CA1. Stratum oriens neurons in CA3/2, but not CA1, receive input from the basolateral amygdala, a region noted for mediating emotional responses, and studied in the context of psychiatric illness. Benes proposes that synaptic activity from this input could promote oxidative stress in the already highly active GABAergic cells, and trigger a cascade of molecular changes, including DNA damage. Her team is now exploring this idea in rat hippocampus (e.g., Gisabella et al., 2009).

The results reveal a complicated checkerboard of gene-, circuit-, and diagnosis-specific DNA changes, and suggest that a subtler kind of genomic degradation lying somewhere between the cell death of neurodegenerative disorders and the rampant cell proliferation driving cancer may be at work in psychiatric illness. As future research discerns whether, and how much, these kinds of changes contribute to psychiatric illness, it will be important to keep in mind the cellular context of a given genetic glitch. “We have to be cautious about extrapolating from a particular anatomic locus to different parts of the brain,” Benes said.—Michele Solis.

Reference:
Sheng G, Demers M, Subburaju S, Benes FM. Differences in the Circuitry-Based Association of Copy Numbers and Gene Expression Between the Hippocampi of Patients With Schizophrenia and the Hippocampi of Patients With Bipolar Disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012 Feb 6. Abstract

 
Comments on Related News
Related News: Genetics, Expression Profiling Support GABA Deficits in Schizophrenia

Comment by:  Karoly Mirnics, SRF Advisor
Submitted 26 June 2007 Posted 26 June 2007

The evidence is becoming overwhelming that the GABA system disturbances are a critical hallmark of schizophrenia. The data indicate that these processes are present across different brain regions, albeit with some notable differences in the exact genes affected. Synthesizing the observations from the recent scientific reports strongly suggest that the observed GABA system disturbances arise as a result of complex genetic-epigenetic-environmental-adaptational events. While we currently do not understand the nature of these interactions, it is clear that this will become a major focus of translational neuroscience over the next several years, including dissecting the pathophysiology of these events using in vitro and in vivo experimental models.

View all comments by Karoly Mirnics


Related News: Genetics, Expression Profiling Support GABA Deficits in Schizophrenia

Comment by:  Schahram Akbarian
Submitted 26 June 2007 Posted 26 June 2007
  I recommend the Primary Papers

The three papers discussed in the above News article are the most recent to imply dysregulation of the cortical GABAergic system in schizophrenia and related disease. Each paper adds a new twist to the story—molecular changes in the hippocampus of schizophrenia and bipolar subjects show striking differences dependent on layer and subregion (Benes et al), and in prefrontal cortex, there is mounting evidence that changes in the "GABA-transcriptome" affect certain subtypes of inhibitory interneurons (Hashimoto et al). The polymorphisms in the GAD1/GAD67 (GABA synthesis) gene which Straub el al. identified as genetic modifiers for cognitive performance and as schizophrenia risk factors will undoubtedly spur further interest in the field; it will be interesting to find out in future studies whether these genetic variants determine the longitudinal course/outcome of the disease, treatment response etc etc.

View all comments by Schahram Akbarian


Related News: GABA Is Up in Prefrontal Cortex of Schizophrenia Subjects

Comment by:  Dost Ongur
Submitted 19 January 2012 Posted 19 January 2012

This news story by Allison Curley cogently and succinctly describes the current state of affairs in studies of parenchymal GABA levels in schizophrenia. Measuring GABA in vivo in the human brain has been challenging because this metabolite exists in relatively low concentration and its signal overlaps with that of other, more abundant metabolites. The literature has grown recently with the advent of higher-field MRI scanners and reliable MRS approaches for GABA measurement.

As outlined in the story, the several papers on parenchymal GABA levels in schizophrenia are about evenly split, with reductions and elevations both being reported. Although MRS is characterized by a relatively low signal-to-noise ratio and high variance in most datasets, all the recent studies used reliable MRS techniques such as MEGAPRESS.

In my opinion, the current state of the literature offers two insights:

1. If there was a significant and consistent abnormality in parenchymal GABA levels in schizophrenia, we would have found it and the studies would agree. Rather, it appears that there...  Read more


View all comments by Dost Ongur

Related News: GABA Is Up in Prefrontal Cortex of Schizophrenia Subjects

Comment by:  Jong H. YoonRichard J. Maddock
Submitted 8 February 2012 Posted 8 February 2012

The study by Kegeles et al. has added unique and important findings to the small but rapidly growing literature assessing in-vivo GABA levels in schizophrenia using MRS. In the context of these studies, the Kegeles publication also raises several challenging questions regarding the potential relevance and reliability of in-vivo GABA studies. Here, we would like to comment on two of these questions. The first pertains to the lack of convergence with the consistent postmortem studies. The second is the apparent lack of consistency across the recent in-vivo GABA studies in schizophrenia.

A starting point in the discussion of the first issue is to recognize the differences in what we are measuring with in-vivo spectroscopy as opposed to the postmortem studies. The latter have consistently demonstrated decreased mRNA levels for GAD67, one of the major synthetic enzymes for GABA, in a subset of GABAergic interneurons in the neocortex of schizophrenia. Based on this postmortem work and the important role GAD67 plays in determining whole cell content of GABA (  Read more


View all comments by Jong H. Yoon
View all comments by Richard J. Maddock

Related News: GABA Is Up in Prefrontal Cortex of Schizophrenia Subjects

Comment by:  Robert McCarleyMargaret NiznikiewiczMartina M. VoglmaierKevin Spencer (Disclosure)
Nick Bolo
Alexander P. LinYouji Hirano
Elisabetta DelRe
Israel MolinaVicky Liao
Sai Merugumala
Submitted 13 February 2012 Posted 14 February 2012
  I recommend the Primary Papers

The important and elegantly controlled work by Kegeles et al., and the informed comments of Ongur, Yoshimura, and Yoon and Maddock, on GABA in schizophrenia raise a series of potentially key factors about the sources of variability of MRS findings in this disorder (medication, stage of illness, and region of interest [ROI]). They also point out the need for association of MRS GABA findings with physiologic measures such as γ oscillations (40 Hz), a functional measure particularly relevant because of the involvement of GABA interneurons interacting with pyramidal neurons in generating this oscillation.

We would like to call the reader's attention to a potentially informative schizophrenia spectrum disorder, schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), that may help shed light on and respond to these issues. As has been documented by Kendler (Kendler et al., 1993; Fanous et al., 2007), SPD shares a genetic relationship with schizophrenia. Although sharing the symptoms of...  Read more


View all comments by Robert McCarley
View all comments by Margaret Niznikiewicz
View all comments by Martina M. Voglmaier
View all comments by Kevin Spencer
View all comments by Nick Bolo
View all comments by Alexander P. Lin
View all comments by Youji Hirano
View all comments by Elisabetta DelRe
View all comments by Israel Molina
View all comments by Vicky Liao
View all comments by Sai Merugumala

Related News: GABA Is Up in Prefrontal Cortex of Schizophrenia Subjects

Comment by:  Lawrence KegelesDikoma C. Shungu
Submitted 4 April 2012 Posted 5 April 2012

The news story by Allison Curley on our recent paper gives a concise and insightful overview of in-vivo studies of GABA levels in schizophrenia. As the story notes, for those keeping score, studies measuring GABA in schizophrenia are evenly split in that two showed increases, two found decreases, and one reported no change. A major theme running through the thoughtful commentaries by Ongur, Yoshimura, Yoon and Maddock, and McCarley and colleagues is how to understand the variability across studies.

Some regularities can already be found in these and similar studies of the glutamate system. If we confine the scorekeeping to GABA in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the studies are more uniform: two showed increases (Ongur et al., 2010; Kegeles et al., 2012) and two showed no change (Goto et al., 2009; Tayoshi et al., 2010). If we further limit attention to unmedicated patients, but broaden the...  Read more


View all comments by Lawrence Kegeles
View all comments by Dikoma C. Shungu
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