Polymorphism analysis of the upstream region of the human N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subunit NR1 gene (GRIN1): implications for schizophrenia

Tani, Ayako; Kikuta, Rumiko; Itoh, Kanako; Joo, Akiko; Shibata, Hiroki; Ninomiya, Hideaki; Tashiro, Nobutada; Fukumaki, Yasuyuki

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Volume 58, Issue 1 , Pages 83-86, 1 November 2002

Polymorphism analysis of the upstream region of the human N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subunit NR1 gene (GRIN1): implications for schizophrenia

Ayako Tani
- Division of Disease Genes, Research Center for Genetic Information, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashiku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
Rumiko Kikuta
- Division of Disease Genes, Research Center for Genetic Information, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashiku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
Kanako Itoh
- Division of Disease Genes, Research Center for Genetic Information, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashiku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
Akiko Joo
- Division of Disease Genes, Research Center for Genetic Information, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashiku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
Hiroki Shibata
- Division of Disease Genes, Research Center for Genetic Information, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashiku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
Hideaki Ninomiya
- Fukuoka Prefectural Dazaifu Hospital Psychiatric Center, Dazaifu, Japan
Nobutada Tashiro
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Yasuyuki Fukumaki
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +81-92-642-6167; fax: +81-92-632-2375
- Division of Disease Genes, Research Center for Genetic Information, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashiku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan

Received 15 July 2001; accepted 29 December 2001.

Abstract

Dysfunction of the gene for the NR1 subunit of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor (GRIN1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. In support of this hypothesis are behavioral abnormalities reminiscent of schizophrenia in mice with an attenuated expression of the NR1 subunit receptor and the reduced level of NR1 mRNA in postmortem brains of patients with schizophrenia. We screened single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the upstream region between +51 and −941 from the translation initiation codon of GRIN1 and identified 17 SNPs, 10 of which were located within the region containing the Sp1 motif and the GSG motifs. As genotyping of 191–196 Japanese patients with schizophrenia and 202–216 controls revealed no significant association between schizophrenia and the SNPs in the upstream region of GRIN1, these SNPs apparently do not play a critical role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia in the Japanese population.

Keywords: N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor subunit NR1 gene (GRIN1), Polymorphism, Schizophrenia, Association, Promoter, Transcription