A simple cell-based assay reveals that diverse neuropsychiatric risk genes converge on primary cilia.

ABSTRACT: Human genetic studies are beginning to identify a large number of genes linked to neuropsychiatric disorders. It is increasingly evident that different genes contribute to risk for similar syndromes and, conversely, the same genes or even the same alleles cross over traditional diagnostic categories. A current challenge is to understand the cellular biology of identified risk genes. However, most genes associated with complex neuropsychiatric phenotypes are not related through a known biochemical pathway, and many have an entirely unknown cellular function. One possibility is that diverse disease-linked genes converge at a higher-level cellular structure. The synapse is already known to be one such convergence, and emerging evidence suggests the primary cilium as another. Because many gene

SUBMITTER: Marley A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3463515 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature