Background Sequencing studies have pointed to the involvement in schizophrenia of rare coding variants in neuronally expressed genes, including activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (ARC) and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) complexes; however, larger samples are required to reveal novel genes and specific biological mechanisms. Methods We sequenced 187 genes, selected for prior evidence of association with schizophrenia, in a new dataset of 5207 cases and 4991 controls. Included among these genes were members of ARC and NMDAR postsynaptic protein complexes, as well as voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels. We performed a rare variant meta-analysis with published sequencing data for a total of 11,319 cases, 15,854 controls, and 1136 trios. Results While no individual gene was significantly associated with schizophrenia after genome-wide correction for multiple testing, we strengthen the evidence that rare exonic variants in the ARC (p = 4.0 × 10–4) and NMDAR (p = 1.7 × 10–5) synaptic complexes are risk factors for schizophrenia. In addition, we found that loss-of-function variants and missense variants at paralog-conserved sites were enriched in voltage-gated sodium channels, particularly the alpha subunits (p = 8.6 × 10–4). Conclusions In one of the largest sequencing studies of schizophrenia to date, we provide novel evidence that multiple voltage-gated sodium channels are involved in schizophrenia pathogenesis and confirm the involvement of ARC and NMDAR postsynaptic complexes.

doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.08.022, hdl.handle.net/1765/116157
Biological Psychiatry

Rees, E., Carrera, N, Morgan, J., Hambridge, K., Escott-Price, V, Pocklington, AJ, … Luykx, J.J. (2019). Targeted Sequencing of 10,198 Samples Confirms Abnormalities in Neuronal Activity and Implicates Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels in Schizophrenia Pathogenesis. Biological Psychiatry, 85(7), 554–562. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.08.022