Effects on gene expression and behavior of untagged short tandem repeats: the case of arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (AVPR1a) and externalizing behaviors.

ABSTRACT: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of complex, heritable, behavioral phenotypes have yielded an incomplete accounting of the genetic influences. The identified loci explain only a portion of the observed heritability, and few of the loci have been shown to be functional. It is clear that current GWAS techniques overlook key components of phenotypically relevant genetic variation, either because of sample size, as is frequently asserted, or because of methodology. Here we use arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (AVPR1a) as an in-depth model of a methodologic limitation of GWAS: the functional genetic variation (in the form of short tandem repeats) of this key gene involved in affiliative behavior cannot be captured by current GWAS methodologies. Importantly, we find evidence of differentia

SUBMITTER: Landefeld CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5913313 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature