Lesions and mutations of the DISC1 (Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1) gene have been linked to major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism, but the influence of DISC1 on synaptic transmission remains poorly understood. Using two independent genetic approaches-RNAi and a DISC1 KO mouse-we examined the impact of DISC1 on the synaptic vesicle (SV) cycle by population imaging of the sy...

Disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is emerging in the eyes of many as the most promising candidate of all the schizophrenia risk genes. This viewpoint is derived from the combination of genetic, clinical, imaging and rapidly advancing cell biology data around this gene. All of these areas have been reviewed extensively recently and this review will point you towards some of these excellent pa...

Agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) is a congenital brain malformation that occurs in approximately 1:1,000-1:6,000 births. Several syndromes associated with AgCC have been traced to single gene mutations; however, the majority of AgCC causes remain unidentified. We investigated a mother and two children who all shared complete AgCC and a chromosomal deletion at 1q42. We fine mapped this del...

Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a strong candidate gene for schizophrenia and other mental disorders. DISC1 regulates neurodevelopmental processes including neurogenesis, neuronal migration, neurite outgrowth, and neurotransmitter signaling. Abnormal neuronal morphology and cortical architecture are seen in human postmortem brain from patients with schizophrenia. However, the etiology a...

We have previously reported a linkage peak on 1q42 in a Finnish schizophrenia sample. In this study we genotyped 28 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 1q42 covering the three candidate genes TRAX, DISC1 and DISC2, using a study sample of 458 Finnish families ascertained for schizophrenia. Two-point and haplotype association analysis revealed a significant region of interest within the ...

Protein aggregation is seen as a general hallmark of chronic, degenerative brain conditions like, for example, in the neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer's disease (Aβ, tau), Parkinson's Disease (α-synuclein), Huntington's disease (polyglutamine, huntingtin), and others. Protein aggregation is thought to occur due to disturbed proteostasis, i.e. the imbalance between the arising and degradatio...

BACKGROUND Genetic evidence implicates the DISC1 gene in the etiology of a number of mental illnesses. Previously, we have reported association between DISC1 and measures of psychosis proneness, the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS) and Revised Physical Anhedonia Scale (RPAS), in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC66). As part of the studies of this Finnish birth cohort genome-wide...

Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a risk gene for a spectrum of major mental disorders. It has been shown to regulate radial migration as well as dendritic arborization during neurodevelopment and corticogenesis. In a previous study we demonstrated through in vitro experiments that DISC1 also controls the tangential migration of cortical interneurons originating from the medial ganglionic...

BACKGROUND Mutations in the DISC1 gene are strongly associated with major psychiatric syndromes such as schizophrenia. DISC1 encodes a cytoplasmic protein with many potential interaction partners, but its cellular functions remain poorly understood. We identified a role of DISC1 in the cell biology of primary cilia that display disease-relevant dopamine receptors. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDIN...

In a large Scottish pedigree, disruption of the gene coding for DISC1 clearly segregates with major depression, schizophrenia and related mental conditions. Thus, study of DISC1 may provide a clue to understand the biology of major mental illness. A neuropeptide precursor VGF has potent antidepressant effects and has been reportedly associated with bipolar disorder. Here we show that DISC1 knoc...