De novo mutations in the gene encoding the synaptic scaffolding protein SHANK3 in patients ascertained for schizophrenia

Julie Gauthier*, Nathalie Champagne, Ronald G. Lafrenière, Lan Xiong, Dan Spiegelman, Edna Brustein, Mathieu Lapointe, Huashan Peng, Mélanie Côté, Anne Noreau, Fadi F. Hamdan, Anjené M. Addington, Judith L. Rapoport, Lynn E. DeLisi, Marie Odile Krebs, Ridha Joober, Ferid Fathalli, Fayçal Mouaffak, Ali P. Haghighi, Christian NériMarie Pierre Dubé, Mark E. Samuels, Claude Marineau, Eric A. Stone, Philip Awadalla, Philip A. Barker, Salvatore Carbonetto, Pierre Drapeau, Guy A. Rouleau, Kathleen Daignault, Ousmane Diallo, Joannie Duguay, Marina Drits, Edouard Henrion, Philippe Jolivet, Frédéric Kuku, Karine Lachapelle, Guy Laliberté, Sandra Laurent, Meijiang Liao, Carlos Marino, Amélie Piton, Annie Raymond, Annie Reynolds, Daniel Rochefort, Judith St-Onge, Pascale Thibodeau, Kazuya Tsurudome, Yan Yang, Sophie Leroy, Katia Ossian, Mélanie Chayet, David Gourion

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

337 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Schizophrenia likely results from poorly understood genetic and environmental factors. We studied the gene encoding the synaptic protein SHANK3 in 285 controls and 185 schizophrenia patients with unaffected parents. Two de novo mutations (R1117X and R536W) were identified in two families, one being found in three affected brothers, suggesting germline mosaicism. Zebrafish and rat hippocampal neuron assays revealed behavior and differentiation defects resulting from the R1117X mutant. As mutations in SHANK3 were previously reported in autism, the occurrence of SHANK3 mutations in subjects with a schizophrenia phenotype suggests a molecular genetic link between these two neurodevelopmental disorders.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7863-7868
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume107
Issue number17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Apr 2010
Externally publishedYes

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