Project Summary

Consuelo Walss-Bass, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2004) of University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, aims to study neureglin 1 and G72, candidate genes for schizophrenia found in Northern European populations, in a Hispanic population to determine if the relationship between the genes and the disorder is valid in a different group of people. Dr. Walss-Bass has evidence from Central Valley of Costa Rica (CVCR) population of possible schizophrenia loci on chromosome 8 and 13, in areas where neuregulin 1 and G72 are found. In the proposed study, Dr. Walss-Bass will perform association studies, using SNP markers spaced at approximately 100 kb, on a schizophrenia sample of 145 patients and their relatives from the CVCR. Other tests will identify genes linked to schizophrenia. Once genes are identified, the laboratory will use an automated DNA sequencer to identify mutations in the genes that may confer schizophrenia susceptibility. Study results could reveal a potential neuregulin 1 and/or G72 gene association with schizophrenia in a Hispanic population; possible genetic variations unique to the CVCR population and better understanding of the molecular biology of schizophrenia.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

Search Again